The attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) on 9/11/2001 (9/11) involved collision of two aircraft into the buildings and the combustion of many thousands of pounds of jet fuel. The subsequent collapse on the towers, and the rescue/recovery effort that followed, led to large numbers of responders being exposed to a wide variety of hazardous material including pulverized cement, glass, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated furans and dioxins (1-3). Three research centers that follow cohorts of rescue and recovery workers since the WTC disaster include the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY); the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS); and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Modest though mostly non-statistically significantly elevated cancer rates post-exposure to the WTC-site have been reported in all three of the cohorts, despite limited follow-up time since 9/11/2001 (4-7). We propose to combine these three cohorts to account for individuals who are in more than one cohort, to increase the sample size, and to make the results more generalizable. We plan to update the incidence findings from the prior reports using consistent exposure and outcome definitions and taking advantage of the additional six years of follow-up since those publications. We also plan to study the time elapsed from WTC- exposure to increased incidence of WTC-associated cancer. We believe that this short-term high intensity exposure with long-term follow-up in responder cohorts, combined for these analyses, offers a rare opportunity to investigate cancer latency in humans. Finally, we also propose the first study of cancer survival in WTC rescue/recovery workers with cancer.

Public Health Relevance

This research may substantially increase understanding of the latency period between environmental exposure and cancer incidence in human populations. It will add to the understanding of long-term consequences of WTC-exposure, inform surveillance efforts in future environmental disasters, and will stimulate further research into environmental risk factors for cancer in this and other cohorts. This research will also be the first study of survival after cancer diagnosis in WTC-responder populations and will stimulate future work that examines factors predicting improved survival.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
1U01OH011315-01
Application #
9264617
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZOH1-NXT (52))
Program Officer
Kubale, Travis
Project Start
2016-09-01
Project End
2020-08-31
Budget Start
2016-09-01
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$443,356
Indirect Cost
Name
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Inc
Department
Type
DUNS #
079783367
City
Bronx
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10461