132 New WTC Cancer Cases Reported at Northwell

Northwell Health reported 132 new cancer cases certified as related to September 11 among patients in its World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program during the first half of 2026. Its September 8 report put the cumulative total at 2,445 cancer cases among 1,489 people through June, ahead of the attacks’ 25th anniversary.

The Northwell program recorded 811 new cases over the 42 months ending in June 2026, compared with 1,634 during 2013–2022. Prostate and skin cancers were the most common, followed by breast and urinary tract cancers. Northwell reported that 30% of its enrollees had experienced cancer; its WTC patients had an average age of 63.

The broader WTC Health Program had approximately 145,000 enrollees and provides medical monitoring at no cost, according to the report. Northwell is one of seven federally funded organizations in the New York metropolitan area treating responders, with a clinic in Rego Park, Queens, and care from specialists across its health system.

Jacqueline Moline, MD, director of Northwell’s program, described a shift from the respiratory illnesses seen earlier to increasing cancer diagnoses. The report highlighted Frank Kotnik, who worked as a city blacksmith around Ground Zero and later developed bladder cancer, and Felicia Ivey-Toure, a mental health counselor who provided counseling to responders and developed thyroid cancer.

Craig Devoe, MD, who leads gastrointestinal medical oncology at Northwell Cancer Institute, emphasized screening through the WTC Health Program as a means of finding cancers early. Moline expressed concern that diagnoses would continue to increase over the next 25 years.

Source: Molinet J. Cancer cases explode among WTC Health patients, underscores ongoing crisis 25 years after 9/11. News release. Northwell Health. Published September 8, 2026. Accessed September 10, 2026.