NEW YORK (WABC) — As the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaches, health experts are warning that people who worked or lived near Ground Zero may continue to face an elevated cancer risk decades after exposure to toxic dust.<\/p>\n
Frank Kotnik, a retired employee of New York City’s Department of Transportation, spent 20-hour shifts working in the aftermath of the attacks as a blacksmith. More than two decades later, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.<\/p>\n
“I still can’t grasp getting this cancer 23 years later,” Kotnik said.<\/p>\n
He said he never expected the long-term health consequences.<\/p>\n
“Not expecting that after all this time, we would be afflicted with these cancers,” he said.<\/p>\n
Felicia Ivey-Toure, 58, was also diagnosed with cancer years after working near Ground Zero as a mental health counselor. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer after a car accident led doctors to discover a mass in her neck.<\/p>\n
“My symptom was that I was asymptomatic. I was diagnosed after a car accident,” Ivey-Toure said.<\/p>\n
Both patients were successfully treated at Northwell Health, where administrators of the World Trade Center Health Program say cases like theirs highlight the long-term effects of exposure following the attacks.<\/p>\n
“You’re still at risk for a whole host of different cancers that take many, many years to develop,” said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of the Northwell World Trade Center Health Program.<\/p>\n
According to Northwell Health, its World Trade Center Cancer Program recorded 811 new cancer cases over the past 42 months, a 75% increase from three years earlier.<\/p>\n
The World Trade Center Health Program now has 145,000 enrolled patients, and more than 57,000 of them have battled cancer.<\/p>\n
The most common cancers linked to September 11th exposure include prostate, skin, breast and urinary tract.<\/p>\n
Doctors are using the anniversary of the attacks to encourage people with potential exposure histories to remain vigilant about their health.<\/p>\n
“Screening is really, really important, and reporting new symptoms that are persisting,” said Dr. Craig Devoe of the Northwell Cancer Institute.<\/p>\n
Health experts say the risk of cancer may continue to rise in the years ahead for people who worked or lived near Ground Zero, underscoring the importance of ongoing screenings and monitoring.<\/p>\n
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