9/11 firefighters more likely than other firefighters to develop cancer

Twenty years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a new study has found that World Trade Center firefighters were 13 per cent more likely to develop cancer than other firefighters.

Two studies led by researchers from New York were published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine on Friday. In one study, researchers looked at cases of cancer in 10,786 New York City firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center between 2001 and 2016 and compared the data against 8,813 firefighters across the U.S. who were not involved. The researchers found that 915 cancers were diagnosed in 841 World Trade Center firefighters. In the other group, there were 1,002 cases of cancers in 909 firefighters. However, New York City firefighters were less likely to have been combat veterans and more likely to have never smoked in their lives. After adjusting for these variables, the researchers calculated that World Trade Center firefighters were 13 per cent more likely to develop cancer. The researchers also accounted for "surveillance bias." Sept. 11 first responders had been entitled to free cancer screenings, which meant that more cases of cancer could have been picked up due to better health monitoring.