Soldiers exposed to the Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange have a higher risk of a rare form of bone marrow cancer, a major new study has found.
The study found that people exposed to Agent Orange face a higher risk of developing myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow cancer that develops slowly over a lifetime of accumulated genetic damage.
They are also more likely to develop MDS earlier than others and to have more aggressive disease, researchers reported Monday at an American Society of Hematology meeting in Orlando.
"This study has been a personal quest," said lead researcher Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, chief of hematology at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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