September 11 Survivors and Cancer Risks
- A new study has offered more insight into why World Trade Center rescuers and survivors are more likely to develop specific types of cancer.
- Senior study author Dr. Alan Arslan, of a study recently published in the journal of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, helps us understand how “DNA methylation is kind of interface between environment and the gene,” and why WTC survivors are at higher risk of getting cancer.
- The Sept. 11 attacks exposed an estimated 490,000 people to a load of cancer-causing toxins. Many survivors and first responders have suffered illnesses due to exposure to the air in and around Ground Zero.
- Cancer is the fifth most common 9/11-related health condition among responders and the fourth among survivors. The most common cancers in these groups are of the skin (non-melanoma), prostate, and breast (in females), melanoma, and lymphoma.
- People exposed to toxins and pollution in the air after the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, are encouraged to explore resources such as the World Trade Center Health Program.
The enduring, and devastating truth, is that many more people will continue to pass away from 9/11 linked cancers than were killed in the attacks two decades ago.
Read MoreThe WTC dust consisted of asbestos, metals, and organic pollutants.
Investigators involved in the new research looked into blood samples taken from 64 women exposed to WTC dust during and shortly after the buildings collapsed. Blood samples were also taken from 32 women with breast cancer who were not exposed to the dust on or around 9/11.
“Of the 64 women with WTC exposure, 32 had breast cancer, and 32 were cancer-free. Of the 32 women who were unexposed, half had breast cancer while the rest did not,” a study press release explains.
The study found that women with breast cancer were exposed to the WTC dust “were almost four times more likely than those not exposed to have evidence of hypermethylation,” leading the researchers to find “DNA hypermethylation in genes that are responsible for suppressing tumors.”
RELATED: Helpful Resources if You’re Worried About 9/11-Linked Cancer
He says, “Basically DNA methylation is kind of interface between environment and the gene. So in its simple term, DNA methylation acts as a kind of switch on or off for certain genes. And so if this chemical group called the methyl group binds to a certain area of the gene called promoter, then the gene can be silenced, in most of the cases.
“On the other hand, if this chemical group is released from the gene, then the gene is activated. So it’s somewhat acts as a switch on or off switch for the gene expression. And we basically wanted to analyze this process of DNA methylation in people who were exposed to world center dust and those who were not exposed to world center dust to see if there is any differences between this process because it’s an important regulator of the gene expression.”
RELATED: If You Were There, Get Tested: A 9/11 Responder’s Story
Overall the Dr. Arslan and his fellow study authors saw that “people exposed to WTC center dust had a higher degree of methylation of across the whole genome.”
He tells SurvivorNet, “So, we look at the whole genome at more than 850,000 genes. And most of them we saw that globally, people who were exposed to World Trade Center thus had higher degree of DNA mutilation. That means that many of the genes are kind of silenced. And among them we found a lot of what we call tumor suppressor genes. Those are genes that are important to keep cells from becoming a cancer cells.
“So if you silence the tumor suppressor genes, there is a chance that cells are not protected anymore and there is some carcinogenic exposure, like for example, chemicals in carcinogenic chemicals in the world center dust. And if these tumor suppressor genes are silenced, then the spells are not protected as well as they were before that exposure.”
RELATED: The Decorated Firefighter Who Got Cancer Searching For His Son In the Rubble of Ground Zero
The recent study looked into survivors, those being the first responders and the general population who were local residents or workers living below Canal Street.
Arslan praised the “team effort” of not only those involved in putting the study together, but also the survivors and the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, “a center of excellence for World Trade Center affected community members called survivors.”
He continued, “This is the only center of excellence for the treatment and surveillance of World Trade Center affected community members. So it’s located in Bellevue [Hospital] in NYC, although they are currently moving to a new location.
“So this is critical for success for treatment and also surveillance of the people who were exposed.”
Although this study specifically looked into the blood of the survivors of 9-11, Arlan said a future study is in the planning phase to get further insight into how a survivor’s tissues were affected, in comparison to their blood.
WATCH: Are toxins in the air making us sick?
Sept. 11th Continues to Plague Survivors
More than 71,000 people are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. This registry tracks the long-term physical and mental health effects of the September 11 attacks.
RELATED: “We Were Told The Air Was Safe” The People At Risk for 9/11 Cancers
The World Trade Center Health Program has tracked the health of and provided medical care to more than 105,000 survivors and responders. They include responders and survivors of the World Trade Center attack and responders to the Pentagon attack and the Pennsylvania plane crash. Among them, 19,150 that’s nearly 1 in 5 have had a 9/11-related cancer.
The immense debris rushing into the air during the terror attacks comprised explosive material from the airplane’s impact itself, including the building material of the World Trade Center itself.
More Stories from September 11th Survivors
- 9/11 Cancer Survivor Beat A Recurrence At The Peak Of COVID-19 — One Of The First To Do So
- 9/11 Cancers — New Warning Says 300,000 People at Risk Are Not Getting Help They Need
- ‘We Were Told The Air Was Safe’ — The People At Risk for 9/11 Cancers
- As 9/11-Linked Cancers Continue to Climb, Jon Stewart Urges Congress to Fund First Responders’ Medical Costs
- New 9/11 Memorial Honors Heroes Lost Or Still Suffering From Ground Zero-Linked Illness, Including Tragic Cancers
The National Cancer Institute has identified several chemical substances known to be carcinogenic to humans. Some examples of carcinogenic chemicals include:
- Arsenic
- Asbestos
- Indoor emissions from household compounds
- Soot
- Secondhand tobacco smoke
- Wood dust
“There has been no other disaster quite like this,” Dr. Michael Crane, Medical Director of the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and expert in the health consequences of large-scale disasters, previously told SurvivorNet.
“We are looking at an exposure that was really frightening and whose total extent is unknown.”
He Was a 9/11 Rescue Worker, He Got Cancer, And He Wouldn’t Change a Thing
Advocating for Yourself, or a Loved One
Just as being your own advocate is important when it comes to appendicitis or cancer care, it is just as important for parents to advocate for a loved one, or their child’s health. And by doing so, you can make sure that your doctor sees you and your child as an individual in the diagnosis and treatment process.
“One of the biggest things that I did from the very beginning was asking the right questions,” Alex Echols, a patient advocate and lymphoma survivor, tells SurvivorNet. “It’s our lives on the line.”
Advocating for Yourself While Navigating the Medical World
He credits these questions with making sure that doctors took him seriously and viewed him as a partner in his treatment
Pushing For A Correct Diagnosis
When it comes to your health, be a little pushy. You know your body better than anyone else. When you see a doctor for a problem, don’t hesitate to make sure that your question is fully answered and that you are comfortable with the plan moving forward. From a doctor’s perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn’t work.
As a patient, if you don’t feel like each of these four things has been accomplished, just ask! Even if it requires multiple visits or seeing additional providers for a second opinion, always be your own advocate.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet that healthcare guidelines are meant to do the right thing for the largest number of people while using the fewest resources.
“The truth is you have to be in tune with your body, and you realize that you are not the statistic,” he said.
Be Pushy, Be Your Own Advocate. Don’t Settle
Dr. Murrell says not every patient will “fit into” the mold, so it’s important to “educate yourself and be your own health care advocate.”
“Every appointment you leave as a patient, there should be a plan for what the doc is going to do for you, and if that doesn’t work, what the next plan is,” Dr. Murrell said. “And I think that that’s totally fair. And me as a health professional that’s what I do for all of my patients.”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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