Number of new 9/11 cancers among Northwell patients who worked at Ground Zero on track to surpass 2025

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the number of new cancer cases among 9/11 responders continues to rise, a reflection of the massive number of toxins in the air around Ground Zero and the years it takes some cancers to develop, Northwell Health physicians said Tuesday.

“I fear cancer rates will continue to increase," Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of Northwell’s World Trade Center Health Program, said during a news conference at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park.

There were 235 new cancer diagnoses among 9/11 responders treated by Northwell Health in 2025, up from 177 in 2023. In the first six months of 2026, there were 132 new cancer diagnoses — and that, Moline said, puts this year on track to surpass 2025 totals.

The increase in cancer cases among Northwell patients reflects nationwide trends in the federally funded WTC Health Program, which has certified more than 57,000 cancer cases as related to 9/11.

About 30% of Northwell’s WTC patients who were police officers or other responders — anyone involved in rescue and recovery efforts at or near Ground Zero — have been diagnosed with cancer, Moline said. Some have more than one type of cancer.

“There are many more cancers than you would expect to see in the general population, and they tend to be more advanced and aggressive in nature," said Dr. Craig Devoe, systems head for gastrointestinal medical oncology at the Northwell Cancer Institute.

WTC patients also are younger than most cancer patients at Northwell, Moline said. For example, WTC patients on average develop lymphoma 10 years earlier than other Northwell patients with the cancer, she said.

Some cancers, such as lung cancer, typically have very long latency periods, which is the time it takes for a cancer to be detected or for symptoms to show. The number of cases of those types of cancers are rising particularly fast, Moline said.

Felicia Ivey-Toure, 58, of Jamaica, Queens, who attended the news conference, said she provided mental health counseling to first responders and others for three weeks in lower Manhattan.

Years later, she developed spots on her skin. She didn’t think it was anything serious or that it was 9/11-related. But after a 2021 car accident, scans showed that she had a cancerous growth. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and, after surgery at LIJ, is in remission.

Frank Kotnik, 66, of Glendale, Queens, is a retired blacksmith with the New York City Department of Transportation. He saw blood in his urine in late 2023 and later found out he had bladder cancer. His bladder and part of his colon were removed in 2024.

“We all meant to help [after 9/11] not expecting that after all this time, we’d be afflicted with these cancers," he said at the news conference.

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released documents showing that city officials in the months and years after 9/11 concealed data showing that the air in and around Ground Zero had dangerous levels of toxins.

Moline said if the air quality measurements and other data had been released earlier, it could have helped in treatment of patients.

“It's very frustrating to those of us who may have been able to tailor some of the screening programs and some of the testing we did based on" the data, she said.

Devoe urged anyone who may have been exposed by 9/11 toxins — whether responders who dug through rubble or people who lived or worked in the area — to join the program. Treatment and monitoring are free, and patients are less likely to experience insurance denials and delays in treatment, he said.

“We know that screening can find cancers at an earlier stage, and outcomes are better," he said.

By David Olson

david.olson@newsday.com@DavidOlson11

David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.