Cluster of Male Breast Cancer Identified Among 9/11’s Ground Zero Workers, Survivors

At least 15 men who worked or lived around the World Trade Center during or after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks have contracted breast cancer. Five are 9/11 responders, including two city firefighters, an NYPD sergeant, an ironworker, and a highway repairman. Others worked for private businesses in the area and one was a student who was studying downtown at the time. The concentrated incidence of male breast cancer is statistically extraordinary, as the cancer is extremely rare, accounting for just 1 percent of all breast cancers nationally. Nearly 10,000 people have been diagnosed with cancers linked to the toxic dust and smoke, the World Trade Center Health program has reported. In all, more than 1,700 responders and others affected have died, including 420 who had cancer.