United States: The people who were exposed to the dust and fumes of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center may test positive for gene markers of breast cancer, as researchers at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center noted.
The June study seemed to be among the first to investigate the influence of World Trade Center debris on occurrences of breast cancer development.
More about the finding
This study was done so in response to concerns about breast cancer among the residents and workers around the area attacked after the September 11 events.
According to senior study author Alan Arslan of the Grossman School of Medicine, these residents and workers with breast cancer are an “understudied” group in research on the impact of 9/11 on lifespan-related health issues, nyunews.com reported.
A study conducted by researchers
Researchers wanted to know how one genetic process, DNA methylation, which inhibits tumor growth yet becomes toxic at certain levels, differed in blood samples of four groups of people, defined by whether they inhaled smoke from WTC and whether they have breast cancer symptoms.
They concluded that groups that had been exposed to dust, with or without cancer, had higher tendencies to show hypermethylation.
Arslan added, “These findings help explain why World Trade Center rescuers and survivors are more prone to certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.”
Before recent research, earlier scientists found that the dust included toxic elements, including asbestos, pesticides, metals, and plastics, that increase tendencies toward cancer.
Arslan explained he plans to employ the results of his latest study based on the function of DNA methylation in cases when people are exposed to harmful chemicals.
As Arslan mentioned, “With a better understanding of the mechanism that causes cancers at the molecular level, we hope to expand the study to objectively assess one’s level of dust exposure, as opposed to less reliable methods that depend on subjective details from patient interviews,” nyunews.com reported.
“While the study dealt with World Trade Center dust specifically, we think that the DNA methylation analysis could be applied to other situations of heavy chemical exposures in the future,” he added.