A possible link between World Trade Center dust and prostate cancer in first responders has been found by researchers.
Exposure to dust at the New York City site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks triggered chronic inflammation in the responders' prostates, which may have contributed to their cancer, according to the Mount Sinai Health researchers.
They noted that inflammation has long been considered an important factor in prostate cancer.
"Several years ago, I saw a first responder in his 40s who began having symptoms of prostatitis, a painful condition that involves inflammation of the prostate, soon after exposure to the World Trade Center dust," said researcher Dr. William Oh, chief of the division of hematology and medical oncology at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.