Cancer cluster probed at Fort Detrick

Pham Van Xong and his 9-year-old son Truc, who local medical officials say is a victim of Agent Orange, in An Trach, Vietnam. Health officials have been researching cancer prevalence in Frederick County due to concerns about Agent Orange testing at Fort Detrick decades ago. (By Travis Fox -- Washingtonpost.com)

Public health officials are preparing to offer new details on research into a possible cancer cluster near Fort Detrick in Frederick.

The Frederick County Health Department says it will give an update during a public meeting Monday night of its preliminary finding that there doesn’t appear to be a higher rate of cancer near the Army installation than in the rest of Frederick County.

Since then, health officials have been looking for any suspicious geographic patterns or abnormalities in the ages at which cancer patients were diagnosed.

The research stems from concerns about Agent Orange testing and industrial chemical dumping at Fort Detrick decades ago.