Health

This image shows part of a six-step sequence of the death of a cancer cell.

Cancer & Environment: Searching for Answers

This week, the Environment Report is taking an in-depth look at the connections between cancer and the environment.When somebody gets cancer, one of the first questions is usually "why?"Does this kind of cancer run in my family?Was it something in the water, or in the air around me?Did I get exposed to something?What would you do, or where would you go to answer these questions? We'll explore how much we really know about the connections between cancer and the chemicals in our environment.We'll also meet both regular people and scientists trying to figure out if certain towns around Michigan are struggling with more cancer cases than other places because of current or past pollution.You'll hear about whether or not turning to the courts makes sense when it seems a company might to be blame for putting people at risk of cancer or other illnesses.Finally, we'll look at where we go from here. What do researchers know, and where are they looking next?

Live Web Chat: Talking about cancer

Michigan Public | By Michigan Radio Newsroom

Published August 9, 2012 at 2:54 PM EDT

Clockwise from top left: Carol and Loren Schultz, Karrie Martin, Amy Lobsiger with her partner Dan Sicko, Jason Ratliff with his father

Welcome to our live Web chat with the producers of our documentary, Living with Cancer: Rebecca Williams, Meg Cramer and Sarah Alvarez.

The show is airing now on Michigan Radio, 91.7 FM/91.1 FM/104.1 FM, or you can listen to the live stream above.

If you have any questions or comments for the producers, simply type them into the chat box below. We will try to address them in the order they are submitted. Or you can just sit back and watch the discussion.

Thanks for participating!

Our chat guests are :

Dr. Anthony Shields is associate center director of Clinical Sciences at the Karmanos Cancer Center and professor of Medicine and Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Dr. Michael Harbut is the director of the Environmental Cancer Program and the co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos Related Cancers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Mandie Zerka, R.N. has been an oncology nurse for six years and she has experience in the field of pediatric oncology. She works at the Flint McLaren Cancer Institute.

-Elaine Ezekiel, Michigan Radio Newsroom