scholarly journals Breast Cancer Characteristics in the Population of Survivors Participating in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center Program 2002–2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7555
Author(s):  
Alan A. Arslan ◽  
Yian Zhang ◽  
Nedim Durmus ◽  
Sultan Pehlivan ◽  
Adrienne Addessi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Center ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Complex Mixture ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Cancer Data ◽  
Female Breast ◽  
Trade Center

The destruction of World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 exposed local community members to a complex mixture of known carcinogens and potentially carcinogenic substances. To date, breast cancer has not been characterized in detail in the WTC-exposed civilian populations. The cancer characteristics of breast cancer patients were derived from the newly developed Pan-Cancer Database at the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC). We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program breast cancer data as a reference source. Between May 2002 and 31 December 2019, 2840 persons were diagnosed with any type of cancer at the WTC EHC, including 601 patients with a primary breast cancer diagnosis (592 women and 9 men). There was a higher proportion of grade 3 (poorly differentiated) tumors (34%) among the WTC EHC female breast cancers compared to that of the SEER-18 data (25%). Compared to that of the SEER data, female breast cancers in the WTC EHC had a lower proportion of luminal A (88% and 65%, respectively), higher proportion of luminal B (13% and 15%, respectively), and HER-2-enriched (5.5% and 7%, respectively) subtypes. These findings suggest considerable differences in the breast cancer characteristics and distribution of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes in the WTC-exposed civilian population compared to that of the general population. This is important because of the known effect of molecular subtypes on breast cancer prognosis.

scholarly journals Lung Cancer Characteristics in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2689
Author(s):  
Nedim Durmus ◽  
Sultan Pehlivan ◽  
Yian Zhang ◽  
Yongzhao Shao ◽  
Alan A. Arslan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Center ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Smoking History ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
Never Smokers

The destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 resulted in acute and chronic dust and fume exposures to community members, including local workers and residents, with well-described aerodigestive adverse health effects. This study aimed to characterize lung cancer in the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC) focusing on gender and smoking history. WTC EHC patients undergo an initial evaluation that includes WTC exposure information, demographics, and tobacco use. Detailed cancer characteristics are recorded from pathology reports. As of 31 December 2019, 248 WTC EHC patients had a diagnosis of lung cancer. More patients with lung cancer were women (57%) compared to men (43%). Many cases (47% women, 51% men) reported acute dust cloud exposure. Thirty-seven percent of lung cancer cases with available smoking history were never-smokers (≤1 pack-years) and 42% had a ≤5 pack-year history. The median age of cancer diagnosis in never-smoking women was 61 years compared to 66 years in men. Adenocarcinoma was more common in never-smokers compared to ever-smokers (72% vs. 65%) and in women compared to men (70% vs. 65%). We provide an initial description of lung cancers in local community members with documented exposure to the WTC dust and fumes.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Cancer Patients in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7190
Author(s):  
Nedim Durmus ◽  
Yongzhao Shao ◽  
Alan A. Arslan ◽  
Yian Zhang ◽  
Sultan Pehlivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Center ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Cancer Site ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The World ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Trade Center

The destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 released many tons of aerosolized dust and smoke with potential for carcinogenic exposures to community members as well as responders. The WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC) is a surveillance and treatment program for a diverse population of community members (“Survivors”), including local residents and workers, present in the NYC disaster area on 9/11 or in the days or weeks following. We report a case series of cancers identified in the WTC EHC as of 31 December 2019. Descriptive characteristics are presented for 2561 cancer patients (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and 5377 non-cancer WTC-EHC participants who signed informed consent. We identified a total of 2999 cancer diagnoses in 2561 patients: 2534 solid tumors (84.5%) and 465 lymphoid and hematopoietic tissue cancers (15.5%) with forty-one different cancer types. We describe the distribution, frequency, median age of cancer diagnosis and median latency from 9/11 by cancer site. In addition to common cancer types, rare cancers, including male breast cancers and mesotheliomas have been identified. The current study is the first report on cancer characteristics of enrollees at WTC EHC, a federally designated treatment and surveillance program for local community members affected by the 9/11 terrorist attack on the WTC.

scholarly journals Destruction of the World Trade Center Towers. Lessons Learned from an Environmental Health Disaster

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 577-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Reibman ◽  
Nomi Levy-Carrick ◽  
Terry Miles ◽  
Kimberly Flynn ◽  
Catherine Hughes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
World Trade Center Towers

scholarly journals Temporal Aspects of the Association between Exposure to the World Trade Center Disaster and Risk of Skin Melanoma

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Boffetta ◽  
David G. Goldfarb ◽  
Rachel Zeig-Owens ◽  
Dana Kristjansson ◽  
Jiehui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Skin Melanoma ◽  
Cancer Data ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
Incident Cases ◽  
Hispanic White

AbstractRescue/recovery workers who responded to the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on 9/11/2001 were exposed to known/suspected carcinogens. Studies have identified an increased risk of skin melanoma in this population, but the temporal aspects of the association have not been investigated. A total of 44,540 non-Hispanic White workers from the WTC Combined Rescue/Recovery Cohort were observed between 3/12/2002 and 12/31/2015. Cancer data were obtained via linkages with 13 state registries. Poisson regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), using the New York State population as reference; change points in the HRs were estimated using profile likelihood. We observed 247 incident cases of skin melanoma. No increase in incidence was detected between 2002 and 2004. Beginning in 2005, the HR was 1.34 (95% CI 1.18-1.52). A dose-response relationship was observed according to time worked on the WTC effort. Risk of melanoma among non-Hispanic White WTC rescue/recovery workers was elevated, beginning in 2005. While WTC-related exposure to ultraviolet radiation or other agents might have contributed to this result, exposures other than the WTC effort and enhanced medical surveillance cannot be discounted. Our results support the continued surveillance of this population for melanoma.

scholarly journals Temporal association of prostate cancer incidence with World Trade Center rescue/recovery work

2021 ◽  
pp. oemed-2021-107405
Author(s):  
David G Goldfarb ◽  
Rachel Zeig-Owens ◽  
Dana Kristjansson ◽  
Jiehui Li ◽  
Robert M Brackbill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
New York ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Profile Likelihood ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
New York State ◽  
York State ◽  
Cancer Data ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Trade Center

BackgroundThe World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on 11 September 2001 created a hazardous environment with known and suspected carcinogens. Previous studies have identified an increased risk of prostate cancer in responder cohorts compared with the general male population.ObjectivesTo estimate the length of time to prostate cancer among WTC rescue/recovery workers by determining specific time periods during which the risk was significantly elevated.MethodsPerson-time accruals began 6 months after enrolment into a WTC cohort and ended at death or 12/31/2015. Cancer data were obtained through linkages with 13 state cancer registries. New York State was the comparison population. We used Poisson regression to estimate hazard ratios and 95% CIs; change points in rate ratios were estimated using profile likelihood.ResultsThe analytic cohort included 54 394 male rescue/recovery workers. We observed 1120 incident prostate cancer cases. During 2002–2006, no association with WTC exposure was detected. Beginning in 2007, a 24% increased risk (HR: 1.24, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.32) was observed among WTC rescue/recovery workers when compared with New York State. Comparing those who arrived earliest at the disaster site on the morning of 11 September 2001 or any time on 12 September 2001 to those who first arrived later, we observed a positive, monotonic, dose-response association in the early (2002–2006) and late (2007–2015) periods.ConclusionsRisk of prostate cancer was significantly elevated beginning in 2007 in the WTC combined rescue/recovery cohort. While unique exposures at the disaster site might have contributed to the observed effect, screening practices including routine prostate specific antigen screening cannot be discounted.

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