Abstract
The destruction of World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 exposed local community members to a complex mixture of known carcinogens and potentially carcinogenic substances. To date, breast cancer has not been characterized in detail in the WTC-exposed civilian populations. The cancer characteristics of breast cancer patients were derived from the newly developed Pan-Cancer Database at the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC). We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program breast cancer data as a reference source. Between May 2002 and 31 December 2019, 2840 persons were diagnosed with any type of cancer at the WTC EHC, including 601 patients with a primary breast cancer diagnosis (592 women and 9 men). There was a higher proportion of grade 3 (poorly differentiated) tumors (34%) among the WTC EHC female breast cancers compared to that of the SEER-18 data (25%). Compared to that of the SEER data, female breast cancers in the WTC EHC had a lower proportion of luminal A (88% and 65%, respectively), higher proportion of luminal B (13% and 15%, respectively), and HER-2-enriched (5.5% and 7%, respectively) subtypes. These findings suggest considerable differences in the breast cancer characteristics and distribution of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes in the WTC-exposed civilian population compared to that of the general population. This is important because of the known effect of molecular subtypes on breast cancer prognosis.
Highlights
The destruction and collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers and surrounding buildings on 11 September 2001 was an unprecedented disaster, with large groups of rescue workers, local workers, residents, and commuters intensely exposed to a complex mixture of known or suspected carcinogens leading to concerns about elevated cancer risk in exposed populations [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancer [10]
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women enrolled in the WTC EHC
The WTC EHC is racially and ethnically diverse, and women comprise about half of the WTC EHC population
Summary
The destruction and collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers and surrounding buildings on 11 September 2001 was an unprecedented disaster, with large groups of rescue workers, local workers, residents, and commuters intensely exposed to a complex mixture of known or suspected carcinogens leading to concerns about elevated cancer risk in exposed populations [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancer [10]. The WTC dust and fumes contained a complex mixture of known and suspected carcinogens that were implicated in breast cancer etiology, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and fire retardant materials.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International journal of environmental research and public health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
