Free monitoring and treatment programs may reduce 9/11 first responder cancer, mortality from all causes

The first respondents to the World Trade Center, who were enrolled in the free surveillance and treatment program on September 11, 2001, were cancer-related mortality rates and all respondents compared to unregistered respondents and non-responders. The incidence of mortality due to cause was low. With such a program.

Published in Data American Journal of Industrial Medicine — Shows that programs that provide free health monitoring and treatment may help improve survival in cancer patients.

“These results highlight the impact of regular medical surveillance and access to truly enhanced medical surveillance for workers for the current 20 years,” said Montefiore, lead author of the study. Dr. David Goldfarb, an epidemiologist at the medical center, said. In an interview with CURE®, Bronx, New York City.

Founded in January 2011, the World Trade Center Health Program provides qualified first responders with consistent screening, diagnostic procedures, and treatment, all free of charge. Research author Rachel Zaig Owens, director of epidemiology at the New York City Fire Department’s World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, chief epidemiologist, and Montefiore epidemiologist, said in an interview with CURE®. Stated. “Reduces many of the extra burdens an individual may face after being diagnosed with cancer.”

Most first responders who were not enrolled in the program had health insurance, but the data showed that first responders enrolled in the program still benefited from survival benefits. The results suggest that the benefits of this program may be due to lack of medical costs and improved adherence to screening and treatment regimens.

“And in addition to many of them having health insurance, the secondary form of health insurance actually led to these improved results of cancer mortality during the study period, I said. We believe, “Goldfarb said.

In particular, not only did cancer-specific mortality rates decrease, but mortality rates from all causes also decreased. In addition, participation in the program may have led to an early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, although not covered by the benefits of the program, these diagnoses have led to additional potential survival benefits for this population. There is a possibility. Previous randomized studies of cancer screening in cancer patients rarely show this same trend, the study authors added.

The authors also emphasized that a possible reason for responders to improve survival is what is known as the “healthy worker effect.” In short, these first responders may already be more likely to survive the illness because they may have been in good health in general occupationally.

“It could have played a potential role, I think more work is needed,” Goldfarb said. “But this finding is powerful enough to reduce mortality by 35% and cannot explain everything.”

Zeig-Owens, who holds a PhD in public health, did not show improved survival benefits in a comparative group of first responders who were not enrolled in the program, but benefited from the “healthy worker effect”. He added that it may have been. “. Therefore, the authors believe that the health care provided by the program, as well as the “effects of healthy workers,” improved survival.

“These programs are important because they provide free (method) medical care to everyone, have no out-of-pocket costs, and have case management to help navigate sometimes tricky and stressful situations. And the World Trade Center Health Program is a model for how to provide health care in a way that benefits patients by showing results, such as improved survival, “Zeig-Owens concludes.

Dr. Michael Crane, medical director of the Serikov Occupational Health Center at the World Trade Center Health Planning Clinical Center of Excellence in Mount Sinai, New York, praised the results of the study, but further research is needed to confirm that this is not the case. Due to the “healthy worker effect” that warned that it was necessary.

“For me, (results) are very important, because the program seems to be working as expected, but one more thing to check is not just the effects of so-called healthy workers. So the effect … I really don’t have the answer to that, “Crane, who wasn’t the author of the study, said in an interview with CURE®. “But now the World Trade Center program seems to be doing something right, and we have to keep testing it, people repeat the study for five years and the prevention we get. We keep trying to do the right thing by doubling the program, but we have at least some evidence that we now seem to be doing something, and that’s very helpful. “

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