Myeloma Foundation Draws Attention to Cancers and Ground Zero

Last month, members of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) held a congressional briefing to draw attention to the risk of toxin exposure and multiple myeloma.

"The latest update from the World Trade Center health Program reveals more than a doubling of the number of cancer cases since last year at this time," said Brian GM Durie, MD, IMF Chairman and co-founder. "If the numbers continue at this pace, the burden of cancer, including myeloma, will become enormous-- costly in terms of both lives and dollars."

Durie noted that 2,157 first responders on 9/11 have developed cancer, and that multiple myeloma was among the top four cancers reported.

Other physicians gave presentations to Congress but few held the attention of the elected officials quite like Patricia Workman, a volunteer at the World Trade Center site who has since developed myleoma offered her own firsthand account of working conditions at Ground Zero.

"Now that I know all there is to know about what took place at Ground Zero, I would not change one thing that I did," she said in a press release. "I regret that I wasn’t able to do more."

Source: Healio