{"id":73060,"date":"2023-03-17T18:40:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/17\/troops-who-deployed-seem-to-have-lower-risk-of-cancer-death-study\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:52:21","slug":"troops-who-deployed-seem-to-have-lower-risk-of-cancer-death-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/03\/17\/troops-who-deployed-seem-to-have-lower-risk-of-cancer-death-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Troops who deployed seem to have lower risk of cancer death: study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A study of Global War on Terror veterans found that those who deployed were at less risk of dying from cancer than their fellow troops who didn\u2019t deploy, possibly because those sent overseas were healthier in the first place, according to a paper published <\/a>Wednesday<\/a> in the the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study authors looked at 661 veterans\u2019 cancer deaths between 2001 and 2018, comparing whether they had deployed and experienced combat, deployed and not experienced combat or not deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNon-deployers were 34% more likely to die from cancer compared with deployers who did not experience combat, accounting for smoking and other health behaviors, age, sex, race, ethnicity, and military characteristics,\u201d according to a Tuesday release from the Naval Health Research Center, headquarters of the Millennium Cohort Study<\/a>, a Defense Department research effort to study the long-term effects of military service that began in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reports findings seem at odds to the rash of illnesses reported by GWOT veterans exposed to burn pits<\/a>, which has led to recent legislation<\/a> that treats a host of possible issues as<\/a> service-connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study authors say their findings does not negate the damage suffered by toxic exposure during deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRisks from specific exposures encountered during deployment, such as burn pits \u2026 may be associated with cancer mortality,\u201d Sheila Castaneda, a deputy principal investigator with the Millennium Cohort Study, told Military Times. \u201cIn order to examine the impact of deployment-related exposures, comparisons of health outcomes would need to be examined among deployers who were exposed and those not exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they are likely seeing is the \u201chealthy deployer effect,\u2019\u201d Dr. Victoria Cassano<\/a>, a retired Navy doctor who has testified on toxic exposures, told Military Times, referring to the requirement that troops have to be rated in fairly top condition to deploy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2016 study of 200 troops<\/a> deployed to Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan, had similar results, which were also attributed to the \u201chealthy deployer effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest study didn\u2019t find any connection to branch of service or military occupation with cancer death risk, but found that enlisted troops were three times as likely to die of lung cancer as officers, even after controlling for smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis finding may be due to tasks more frequently performed by enlisted personnel that expose them to occupational airborne hazards such as exhausts, emissions, and other respiratory toxicants,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troops with higher education levels \u2015 including enlisted versus officers, who are required to have a bachelor\u2019s degree \u2015 were associated with less cancer death risk, while smoking and \u201clife stressors\u201d were associated with higher risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\t