The firefighters of September 11, 2001 who responded to the World Trade Center attack were exposed to debris and dust containing carcinogenic elements. According to two studies, published in JAMA Oncology, these rescuers have a blood abnormality that can develop into cancer.
No one has forgotten the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York. And certainly not the hundreds of firefighters who responded that day. They keep traces of the event within them. And this affects their health.
According to an American study, published in the journal JAMA Oncology, these rescuers were exposed to very toxic agents at the World Trade Center site. Carcinogens, contained in dust and debris, which can cause them monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a pre-cancerous disease.
No more sick firefighters
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance is a blood abnormality that may not be a problem. But it can also evolve into a multiple myeloma, a type of cancer of the blood. In the United States, 30,000 people are diagnosed each year. Most cases of multiple myeloma are diagnosed in people over 65, and only 5% of cases occur in people under 50.
Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Montefiore Health System, the Fire Department of the City of NewYork (FDNY) and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center assessed the prevalence of MGUS in a population of 781 firefighters exposed to toxic agents. , in comparison with an unexposed group. As a result, the prevalence of MGUS among firefighters was almost twice as high.
In addition, this blood abnormality appears in firefighters at a younger age, which suggests to researchers that they are more at risk of developing multiple myeloma.
Predict cancer cases in the future
In the second study, the researchers sought to predict the number of cancer cases linked to the World Trade Center rescue operation that will be diagnosed, from January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2031.
According to them, they are 2,960, against 2,596 in a control population. Of previous studies had already mounted the resurgence of cancers among people who were on the front lines during the September 11 attack. Not only multiple myelomas, but also leukemia, prostate cancer and leukemia.
The results of this study then underline the importance of monoclonal gammopathy tests of undetermined significance in preventing cancer risks.
.