9/11 linked to tens of thousands of cancer cases

Tens of thousands of people have been diagnosed with cancer linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

According to the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, a federal initiative run by a division of the CDC, roughly 52,700 first responders and survivors have been certified for a form of cancer. The program was created in 2010 and provides monitoring and treatment for victims of the attacks.

Northwell Health, the largest health system in New York, issued a press release on Sept. 8 stating it has seen a rise in 9/11-related cancer cases in recent years.

“Our fear is that cancer diagnoses will only rise as we move into the next 25 years,” Jacqueline Moline, director of Northwell’s WTC Health Program, said in the release.

Breaking down the numbers. The largest percentage of people enrolled in the WTC Health Program (11,900 responders and 6,500 survivors) were diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer.

The second most common form of cancer was prostate, with 6,900 responders and 6,300 survivors diagnosed. Other types of cancers included breast, melanoma of skin, lymphoma, thyroid, kidney, lung/bronchus, and bladder.

From 2023 to 2035, Northwell Health saw cancer cases in its branch of the WTC Health Program grow from 177 to 235, according to the press release. In the first half of 2026, the health system has seen 132 new cancer cases. The most common types of cancer at the health system were prostate and skin, followed by breast and urinary tract.

The rise in cancer diagnoses following 9/11 has largely been attributed to breathing in carcinogens that lingered in the air following the attacks. The air in lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn was filled with ash, debris, asbestos, silica, metals, concrete, and glass, according to the CDC.

Roughly 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants as well as physical and psychological stressors following the attack, the CDC estimated.

Of the members of the WTC Health Program who have been certified for cancer, 1,903 responders and 1,022 survivors have died as of March 2024, according to WTC Health Program data. The program specified that its data includes “all causes of death, not just deaths from WTC-related conditions.”