1. Temporal Association of Prostate and Colon Cancer with World Trade Center Rescue/Recovery Work: A 14 Year Cohort Study
Charles B Hall, Rachel Zeig-Owens, David Goldfarb, David Prezant
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Fire Department of the City of New York
July 30, 2019
NIOSH Cooperative Agreement U01 OH011315

2. The dust cloud at the World Trade Center site
Building collapse after terrorist attack on morning of September 11, 2001
Massive dust cloud followed by fires that burned for months
Tens of thousands of rescue/recovery/cleanup workers exposed to dust, fires, other hazardous conditions, with little if any protection

3. What was found in the dust
partially combusted and/or pulverized wood, paper, and jet fuel
pulverized construction materials including asbestos, glass, silica, fiberglass, and concrete
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated furans and dioxins
lead, other metals

4. Latency of cancer diagnosis after environmental exposure
Surprisingly little epidemiologic research in human populations Exception: Thyroid cancer after radiation exposure (Chernobyl) The World Trade Center cohorts of rescue/recovery workers experienced a relatively short-term exposure followed by long follow up, offering a rare opportunity to assess latency. This brief report shows preliminary findings on the temporal trend in incidence in the Fire Department of the City of New York Cohort of 14,662 firefighters and emergency medical service workers. A currently funded study will examine this in all three cohorts.

5. Prostate Cancer Adjusted Incidence
355 cases in 182,360 person years

6. Prostate Cancer Change Point Model Results
Piecewise exponential parametric survival models with change points
All models are adjusted for calendar year, age and race

7. Colon Cancer Adjusted Incidence
44 cases in 188,406 person years

8. No exposure effect or change point for colon cancer
Piecewise exponential parametric survival models
*All models are adjusted for calendar year, age, race and sex

9. Strengths and Limitations
Well defined cohort identified at time of exposure
Methods allow for baseline incidence estimates
Non-specific exposure
Prostate cancer finding may be from screening practices rather than disease
14 years may be inadequate follow-up for solid tumors such as colon cancer
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