WTC Responders: Hints of Cancer Link

Several types of cancer occurred significantly more often in people who worked at the site of the former World Trade Center (WTC) following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, a registry study showed.

As compared with the general population of the state of New York, rescue and recovery workers at the WTC site had a 43% higher risk of prostate cancer, double the risk of thyroid cancer, and almost a three-fold higher risk of myeloma during follow-up to 2008, reported Jiehui Li, MBBS, of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and colleagues.