Emergency personnel that responded to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers may be at higher risk for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The findings, which were published, early August, in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, are still very preliminary, but suggest that airborne toxins may have damaged the rescue workers’ lungs.

Since 2006, BALCONY has made the monitoring of rescue workers at the World Trade Center a top policy priority , joining the larger coalition advocating for treatment and extended benefits,” stated Lou Gordon, Director of BALCONY. “ In fact, we produced several TV and Radio PSA’s featuring actress Sigourney Weaver and former boxing champ, the late, Jose Torres, alerting those involved in cleanup , rescue and recovery to register and to be regularly screened so as to qualify for New York State workers’ compensation benefits should they become ill.”

Multiple myeloma normally affects the elderly, but was shown to develop early in the emergency personnel, who were all under 45 years old.

Rescue workers were heavily exposed to a toxic chemical soup released from the fires that raged at the World Trade Center site for three months after 9/11. The chemicals included several known carcinogens, some of which have been linked to a heightened risk of multiple myeloma.

“ This is very preliminary,” cautioned Dr. Mitchell Smith, director of the Lymphoma Service at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. “It could turn out to be a statistical fluke and means nothing or it could be the tip of the iceberg and we’ll see an increase in the next 10 years,” he said.

“The concerning thing,” he added, “is it makes biological sense. There is certain data that multiple myeloma is associated with an increased exposure to certain chemicals. It has never been shown with inhaled chemicals but this amount of exposure probably did get into the blood.” Smith was not involved in the study.

“Practitioners should be on the lookout for unusual disease patterns,” added Dr. Jacqueline Moline, lead author of the report, which appears in the August issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “Multiple myeloma is usually a disease that occurs in the seventh or eighth decade of life. A person is 10 times more likely to get myeloma when they’re 70 than when they’re 45 or 48. Clinicians should be sensitized to patients coming in with unusual symptoms. They should think broadly.”

Source: health.usnews.com

Read the complete report: Myeloma