Literature Scan
New and noteworthy research from the
medical literature landscape
NYC Firefighters Exposed to World Trade Center Disaster
Have Increased Myeloma Risk
New York City firefighters who were
exposed to chemicals released into the
environment following the World Trade
Center (WTC) attacks on September 11,
2001, had an increased risk of both mono-
clonal gammopathy of undetermined
significance (MGUS) and light-chain
MGUS – two myeloma precursor diseases
– according to results of a case-series
study published in JAMA Oncology. 1
“Based on the [large] number of
patients being diagnosed and treated at
our myeloma service, we felt there [were]
possibly more multiple myeloma (MM)
cases among people exposed to the WTC
disaster, compared with all other pa-
tients we see and treat,” lead investigator
Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of
medicine and chief attending physician in
the myeloma service at Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center in New York,
told ASH Clinical News. “The prevalence
of myeloma precursor disease is twice as
high as the general population, and the
average age of onset for MM among first
responders was 10 to 15 years earlier than
the general population.”
Researchers worked collaboratively
with the NYC fire department to conduct
this large study of MM precursor disease
among first responders. First, they ob-
tained patient data from 12,942 firefight-
ers who