For the first time, a New York City official is reporting a rise in cancer for firefighters who served at Ground Zero, according to The New York Post.
Dr. David Prezant, the Fire Departments chief medical officer, discovered that firefighters who dug for victims at the World Trade Center are getting cancer at a larger rate than firefighters prior to 9/11 — and some forms of cancer are "bizarrely off the charts," claim sources briefed on the seven-year, federally funded study. (WCxKit)
Prezant discussed the findings with members of a WTC medical-monitoring committee last month, according to several attendees.
He has not yet unveiled the data, but sources claim he has cited unusual increases in three blood cancers — leukemia, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and multiple myeloma — as well as esophageal, prostate and thyroid cancers.
The report, slated for publication around the 10th anniversary of 9/11, would be the first to document a cancer-rate increase among rescue and recovery workers.
The city recently came to settlement on lawsuits by 10,000 WTC workers, more than 600 with cancer.
But officials have so far stood by the fact that there is no scientific proof that Ground Zero smoke and dust caused cancer.
Prezant noted researchers have compiled medical records for three years and had access to state cancer registries, though New York's is three years behind. "Those things keep adding cases," he informed the group.
In 2007, doctors at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, which monitors WTC responders other than FDNY, reported seeing blood cancers like multiple myeloma, which normally strikes in the 60s or 70s, among relatively young cops. (WCxKit)
The state Health Department has confirmed that 345 Ground Zero workers have passed away due to various cancers as of last June.
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