Study Finds Male 9/11 Responders at Elevated Risk of Multiple Primary Cancers

A peer-reviewed study published online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention examined 4,815 male World Trade Center Health Program responders diagnosed with cancer between 2002 and 2022, finding that 10.9% developed multiple primary cancers — separate, unrelated malignancies in the same individual — compared with 10.5% among more than 3.3 million male patients in the national SEER cancer database over the same period. Researchers noted that WTC responders were exposed to a complex mixture of carcinogens at Ground Zero and said comparatively little research attention has been paid to subsequent, unrelated cancers occurring in responders who already survived a first cancer diagnosis. The authors called for continued long-term cancer surveillance of the WTC responder cohort.