9/11-related cancers are on the rise, according to Northwell's World Trade Center Health Program
Nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, doctors at Northwell Health say they are seeing a growing number of cancer cases among people exposed to toxic dust and debris in Lower Manhattan.
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Nearly 25 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, doctors at Northwell Health say they are seeing a growing number of cancer cases among people exposed to toxic dust and debris in Lower Manhattan.
One of those patients is Queens resident Felicia Ivey-Toure, who spent years searching for answers as unexplained symptoms persisted.
"For years, I had symptoms and I had no idea," Ivey-Toure said. "I have spots on my hands and my skin and no one was able to tell me what was wrong."
It was not until a car accident sent her to the emergency room that doctors discovered she had thyroid cancer.
Today, after treatment, she is in remission.
Northwell's World Trade Center Health Program says cases like Ivey-Toure's are becoming increasingly common.
Doctors say many cancers linked to 9/11 exposure are only now appearing.
"Many of them are rare. So, the kind of cancer that's one in a million," said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, director of Northwell's World Trade Center Health Program.
According to Moline, doctors are seeing a wide range of cancers.
"We're seeing the most of non-melanoma skin, prostate, thyroid. We're seeing breast, colon, lung, multiple myeloma, leukemia, lymphoma," Moline said.
New data released by Northwell shows 9/11-certified cancer cases in its World Trade Center Health Program increased from 177 in 2023 to 235 in 2025. 132 new cases through the first half of 2026 continues the trend.
"It's alarming because it's only going to get worse," Moline said.
Among those affected is Frank Kotnik, a retired New York City Department of Transportation blacksmith who worked 20-hour shifts in the rubble around ground zero following the attacks.
Years later, Kotnik was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
"I was very scared," he said.
Kotnik underwent treatment and is now in remission, but he says many fellow survivors continue to battle serious illnesses.
"Thousands of us are now ill, sick or dying from 9/11-related cancers," Kotnik said.
Both Kotnik and Ivey-Toure say they are grateful to have survived, but hope their stories raise awareness about the lasting health consequences of 9/11.
"I'm grateful to be alive," Ivey-Toure said.
