Study of cancer at Pratt & Whitney advances

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Researchers are planning to release more information from a massive, eight-year study of brain cancer deaths at jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

A spokeswoman at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center says the second of three phases in the study will be released Thursday.

University of Pittsburgh researchers also will compare cancer rates among workers at Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Hartford's United Technologies Corp., with the general population and determine if specific types of brain tumors are related to workplace factors.

The study of nearly 224,000 current and former workers showed in September 2008 that cancer death rates at Pratt & Whitney were the same or lower than in Connecticut and the U.S.

The third phase is expected later this year.