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Young police officers who were among the first to respond to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 are developing a form of immune system cancer that is relatively rare in people their age, according to new research.

It is suspected that exposure to toxic dust containing asbestos and other cancer-causing materials from the landmark buildings that were toppled in the terrorist attacks is causing some first responders to develop multiple myeloma, a form of hematological cancer that is relatively rare in people younger than 45.

While researchers from the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine said the numbers of those affected are small and not necessarily cause for alarm, they are advising police, fire, and other officials who were on the scene that day or involved in the clean-up work to have their health closely monitored for signs of cancers and other life-threatening diseases.

Higher Rate of Cancer Found

The study involved 28,252 emergency responders who were exposed to dust at the Twin Towers site zero dust. Among those studied, there were eight cases of multiple myeloma. Even though that number of cases is small, researchers are concerned because they said they expected to find only one case of the cancer among the group of younger police and fire officials.

The median age of diagnosed for multiple myeloma among the general public is 71, officials said.

Four of those diagnosed in the study group were under age 45. One of the victims had spent months working at the site after the attacks while another spend 111 days working at the Staten Island landfill where rubble from the towers was taken and sifted through. Two others diagnosed had been exposed to site for 12 and 14 days, researchers said.

However, there are some questions about whether the cancers among younger 9/11 first responders is in fact tied to toxic dust from the site of the attacks. It usually takes 10 to 20 years after exposure for multiple myeloma to develop and it’s only been about nine years since 9/11.

The cases diagnosed among younger New York City police and fire officials were diagnosed as little as three to four years after the attacks, so some experts are saying it appears the cases may not be linked to toxic exposure from 9/11.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 10:14 am and is filed under Legal Briefs, Mesothelioma, Toxic Exposure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.