Almost 20 years after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, cases of 9/11 first responders cancer are on the rise.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks, first responders rushed to the scene to help save lives and help people recover from the damage. Extensive amounts of dust were released into the air during the blasts, which were then breathed in by people present at the scene.

Originally, experts thought that the dust released during the attacks was harmless. But as time went on after the attacks, it was discovered that the dust possessed many harmful toxins. In fact, many of the toxins were found to be carcinogenic, or cancer-causing.

First, it was discovered that lung cancer was a condition that could result from exposure to 9/11 toxins. Then people who were present at Ground Zero during or after the attack began reporting cases of numerous conditions they believed were connected to their 9/11 toxin exposure, including a range of cancers.

Sadly, the number of cases of 9/11 first responders cancer are only increasing. Many people who were among first responders wondered at the time if the toxins they were breathing in could be dangerous, and have been waiting and worrying when their conditions would hit.

In a feature on 9/11 first responders cancer, NBC News spoke to a fireman who was a first responder on the scene who said that “I do remember thinking that this is probably going to kill me.”

Unfortunately, many people are now having to face chronic conditions that may have been caused by their exposure to toxins on September 11.

A Rutgers study published in the International Journal of Cancer has determined that the number of cases of 9/11 first responders cancer present in the head and neck has increased. The study is the first to report on head and neck cancers present in first responders. Reportedly, the number of cases of these cancers has increased by 40 percent between 2009 and 2012.

On the increase in cases, lead author Judith Graber says that “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.” In other words, the problem is far from over. 

As the number of people with head and neck cancer among first responders continue to increase, these people are going to require medical care and monitoring in order to properly care for them and to help us understand the effects of the toxins released during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The New York Post reported that nearly 10,000 people total have developed cancers because of the toxins they were exposed to because of the terrorist attacks. This number was recorded by the federal World Trade Center Health Program. This number is made up of responders, residents, workers, visitors, and others present during and after the attacks.

In total, over 1,700 people have died of 9/11-related conditions in the years after the attacks, and 420 of those people were killed by cancer.