Report: Ground Zero cancers tripled in less than 3 year

A new report shows that the number of people affected by Ground Zero-related cancers has tripled in just 2 ½ years.

Citing statistics from the World Trade Center Health Program, The New York Post recently reported, in August 2016, that 5,441 people have been diagnosed with 6,378 forms of cancer. In January 2014, 1,822 people had been diagnosed, the newspaper said.

The Post said that scientists “have found five cancers hitting the 9/11 community at a significantly higher rate than expected in the normal population — prostate, thyroid, leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.” More than 75 types of cancer have been diagnosed in people who breathed in toxins at Ground Zero. (For a full list of those cancers, click here.)

One of the victims is firefighter Ray Pfeifer, who spoke with the Post about his long battle against advanced kidney cancer. The FDNY veteran rushed downtown on his day off to help with rescue efforts. Pfeifer, a Sullivan Papain Block McManus & Cannavo client, has suffered through 11 surgeries and countless treatments since he was diagnosed. He told the Post that he visits Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center every two weeks.

“I see cops and firemen there,” Pfeifer said in an interview with the Post. “It’s not unheard of to see five to 10 people who worked on the pile [of rubble created by the World Trade Center’s collapse] getting treated for cancer.”

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