PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — For years, families on the Treasure Coast have asked whether glioblastoma cases in parts of St. Lucie County are connected — and whether something in the environment could be playing a role. Those concerns have never fully gone away. Now, CBS12 News is taking another look at the questions that have haunted families from Port St. Lucie to Fort Pierce for decades.
Among them is Laura Cooper, a Port St. Lucie woman now battling the same deadly brain cancer that claimed her best friend’s life years earlier. From her backyard, she can point across a canal to another family touched by the disease.
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Advocates say they are hearing from more families than ever, including children, while state health officials previously found no statistically significant increase in cases and did not designate the area a cancer cluster.
Beginning Thursday at 5 a.m., CBS12 News will share the stories of families still searching for answers. Then, at 5:30 p.m., we’ll air a full deep-dive report examining the history of the concerns, what the state found, what advocates say is happening now, and why some families are calling for health officials to take another look.