Medical study shows low number of cancer cases with Ground Zero workers

A study released Tuesday shed new light on the health effects at Ground Zero following the September 11th attacks.

The Journal of the American Medical Association released findings of a study of 55,778 Ground Zero workers who enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry between 2003 and 2004. Through Dec. 31, 2008, 1,187 of those first responders, roughly 2%, were diagnosed with cancer, according to the report.

"In this early study with less than 8 years of follow-up, there was no statistically significant increased incidence for all cancer sites combined," the report stated.

Despite the conclusion, researchers said they needed more information to better determine how big a risk cancer was to the Ground Zero workers.

"Longer follow-up of rescue/recovery workers and participants not involved in rescue/recovery is needed with attention to selected cancer sites and to examine risk for cancers with typically long latency periods," the report said.