Distinct Characteristics of Lymphoid and Myeloid Clonal Hematopoiesis in World Trade Center First Responders

Details

• Journal Article:
  American Journal of Hematology
• Personal Author:
  Esai Selvan, Myvizhi ; Kuan, Pei-Fen ; Yang, Xiaohua ; Mascarenhas, John ; Klein, Robert J. ; Luft, Benjamin J. ; Boffetta, Paolo ; Gümüs, Zeynep H.
• Description:
  More than two decades after the 9/11 attacks, long-term health consequences for World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers continue to emerge. Over 91 000 individuals participated in rescue, recovery, debris cleanup, and restoration of essential services. These first responders, including firefighters, police officers, paramedics, engineers, steel workers, railway tunnel workers, telecommunications specialists, sanitation workers, medical examiners, and volunteers, had no prior training in civil disaster response. These responders faced unprecedented exposure to a complex mix of known or suspected airborne carcinogens, raising concerns regarding their long-term cancer risk. WTC responders inhaled a toxic blend including benzene, formaldehyde, asbestos, silica, cement dust, glass fibers, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and dioxins. While the carcinogenicity of these individual compounds is well documented, their collective impact on hematologic malignancy risk remains poorly characterized, creating a critical knowledge gap. A key mechanism potentially linking environmental exposures to cancer development is clonal hematopoiesis, where a subpopulation of blood cells harbors clonal genomic mutations associated with blood cancers, without detectable hematologic disorders or unexplained persistent cytopenia. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) involves clonal subpopulations carrying a point mutation or short insertion/deletion with a variant allele fraction (VAF) of at least 2% in genes recurrently mutated in hematologic malignancies. While most research has focused on myeloid lineage CHIP (M-CHIP), lymphoid lineage CHIP (L-CHIP) also occurs and may contribute to lymphoid malignancy risk, though it remains understudied. Beyond cancer risk, CHIP is associated with cytopenias, cardiovascular disease, infection susceptibility, and all-cause mortality, making it a potentially important biomarker for multiple health conditions relevant to WTC responders.
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Hematopoiesis Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  World Trade Center; WTC; Hematopoiesis; Genetic factors; Rescue workers; Disaster recovery; Biomarkers; Cancer
• Source:
  Am J Hematol 2025 Oct; 100(10):1873-1877
• ISSN:
  0361-8609
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; New York City Region [OSHA] ; New York City (NY)
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  100
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071391
• Contact Point Address:
  Zeynep H. Gümüs, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
• Email:
  zeynep.gumus@mssm.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  State University New York Stony Brook
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20200821
• End Date:
  20210630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2aa94f77a654ef745206099690c199224260d3bd094484c1fd7398ba1d8a5d7c4adc626af2b545c1c2fe28233ce921f157a977b34b31f366990f70d929227ae9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258991/cdc_258991_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.14 MB ]