title: Cancer in World Trade Center responders: Findings from multiple cohorts and options for future study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Three longitudinal studies of cancer incidence in varied populations of World Trade Center responders have been conducted.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the design and results of the three studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Separate analyses of these cohorts revealed excess cancer incidence in responders for all cancers combined and for cancers of the thyroid and prostate. Methodological dissimilarities included recruitment strategies, source of cohort members, demographic characteristics, overlap between cohorts, assessment of WTC and other occupational exposures and confounders, methods and duration of follow-up, approaches for statistical analysis, and latency analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of three cohorts strengthens the effort of identifying and quantifying the cancer risk; the heterogeneity in design might increase sensitivity to the identification of cancers potentially associated with exposure. The presence and magnitude of an increased cancer risk remains to be fully elucidated. Continued long-term follow up with minimal longitudinal dropout is crucial to achieve this goal.
authors.affiliation: Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffetta
authors.affiliation: New York City Fire Department, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeig-Owens
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sylvan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wallenstein
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jiehui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brackbill
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cone
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farfel
authors.affiliation: Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Holden
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lucchini
authors.affiliation: New York City Fire Department, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mayris P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Webber
authors.affiliation: New York City Fire Department, New York, New York.|Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prezant
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York.|Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Stellman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D047851:September 11 Terrorist Attacks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants
keywords: World Trade Center; cancer; cohort study; epidemiology; surveillance