Rescue and recovery workers from the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks have a 40 percent increased risk of WTC head and neck cancers, according to a study of patients between 2009 and 2012.

A higher incidence of lung cancer and breast cancer among both men and women already had been documented among those who were first responders and those who worked and lived in the lower part of Manhattan during the weeks and months following the attacks.

These newly released findings regarding the increased risk of head and neck cancers were from a two-year study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC wanted to determine whether those in the initial aftermath of the attacks were at an increased risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers.

The study was done by the Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute because doctors treating 9/11 first responders at the Rutgers’ World Trade Center Health Program expressed alarm about the increased number of patients with head and neck cancers they were seeing.

The study found WTC first responders had an increased risk of oropharyngeal cancers, which often are linked to the presence of the HPV virus. Oropharyngeal cancers are those of the soft palate, base of the tongue, and the posterior pharangeal wall, which is the back of the throat, just past the point of swallowing.

The study determined that non-Hispanic whites over the age of 55 who worked in military or other protective service-type jobs and performed rescue and recovery efforts or helped maintain the perimeter of the attacks were most likely to be diagnosed with WTC head and neck cancers. Researchers compared the incidence of head and neck cancers of people from 2003 to 2012.

“Since cancers are diseases of long latency, the findings of significant excess cancer in this period point to a newly emerging trend that requires ongoing monitoring and treatment of WTC-exposed persons,” said lead author Judith Graber, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health and a researcher at Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.

Researchers noted that exposure to carcinogens in the post-9/11 air could increase the effect of other known risk factors for head and neck cancers, including smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and oral HPV infection.

WTC Head and Neck Cancers and 9/11 Victims Fund Eligibility

More than 70 types of cancer have been linked to exposure of carcinogens during the WTC attacks. If you were diagnosed with cancer four or more years after exposure (or one year or more for blood/bone cancers), you may be eligible to receive money from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

Men and women who were first responders, volunteers, construction workers and even residents who lived and students who went to school in the area below Canal Street may qualify for financial assistance and/or free lifetime medical care.

People who were near Ground Zero, the area of Lower Manhattan below Canal Street, between Sept. 11, 2001 and May 31, 2002 and are suffering severe health issues such as WTC head and neck cancers could receive compensation.