John Meyers remembers standing at ground zero , feeling like a small speck amid mountains of debris . `` Everything was pulverized , '' said Meyers , a former New York police officer and first-responder who provided security after the September 11 terror attacks . `` It was nothing but dust . '' For 20 days , during 14-hour shifts , Meyers breathed in countless chemicals ; he even ate meals on site as the dust hovered . Most of that time , he did not wear a mask . In retrospect , he said , `` We were ingesting whole buildings . '' Less than four years later , at age 46 , Meyers was diagnosed with stage IV oropharyngeal cancer . One tumor had formed in Meyers ' throat and two on his lymph nodes . An ultrasound later revealed another tumor near his collarbone . `` All four were malignant , '' said Meyers , who choked up as he recalled being diagnosed . `` I asked , 'What 's my chances ? ' No one could give me an answer . '' According to the most recent data from the World Trade Center Health Program , there are nearly 3,000 cases of cancer among firefighters , police officers , contractors and civilians who worked or lived near the site of the attacks . A growing number are being diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer , but some -- including Meyers -- are being denied insurance coverage because their cancers were diagnosed too soon after 9/11 . The minimum latency period for oropharyngeal cancers -- in other words , the minimum time period required to prove a link between exposure to toxins at ground zero and a diagnosis of that type of cancer -- is four years . ( Absent this type of dramatic environmental exposure , oropharyngeal cancers in most cases take one or two decades to develop , although recent studies suggest that cases are being diagnosed at younger ages and more frequently . ) Meyers was diagnosed three years and 10 months after his work at ground zero , about eight weeks shy of eligibility for cancer coverage or compensation . `` We got screwed , '' he said . `` They do n't know what the latency period should be ; four years may be right , or it may be wrong . '' The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health determined the latency periods for 58 cancers , including oropharyngeal , now covered under its WTC Health Program . In a statement , the institute said it `` selected minimum latencies informed by the available science '' and that it `` erred on the member-favorable side to avoid false negatives for coverage . '' In documents outlining its process , the agency acknowledged that , for the most part , data in this area are scant . `` At the time they came up with the latency period , there was nothing unreasonable about it , '' said Noah Kushlefsky , a partner at the Kreindler & Kreindler law firm in New York , which is representing thousands of 9/11 responders , including Meyers . That is because it was not known what effects cancer would have on this population . But in the two years since latency for cancers was spelled out -- and many cases later -- Kushlefsky says , it has become `` an inescapable fact that the latency period has to be wrong . '' Wrong , he says , because of the sheer number of oropharyngeal cancer cases he is seeing cross his desk . Kushlefsky , along with colleagues at another New York law firm , represents about 7,500 people exposed to toxins while working at ground zero . He says 39 have been diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer . About one-quarter of that group was denied coverage because of the four-year latency rule . To have so many cases of a rare cancer -- diagnosed in an unusually young population , according to data provided by Kushlefsky -- should , he says , spur a re-examination of the data by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health . Dr. Otis Brawley , chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society , says that oropharyngeal cancer in this population , absent risk factors like drinking , smoking or a human papillomavirus infection , is unusual . Still , determining an accurate latency window is an exceedingly complex process . `` Four years is a group of people 's best guess ; it 's literally that , '' said Brawley , a practicing oncologist . `` I do n't know of any animal models for cancers developed after sucking in that much soot and smoke ( from collapsed buildings ) , so people have to make a guess . '' Brawley added that four years is probably a fair -- perhaps even generous -- timeline for developing oropharyngeal cancer , even considering the unique circumstances surrounding 9/11 . Not everyone agrees . `` I think ( the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ) made a terrible mistake , '' said Michael Banahan , a first-responder diagnosed with stage III oropharyngeal cancer at age 44 , three years and five months after 9/11 . Like Meyers , he was denied coverage because he was diagnosed too soon . `` I 'm going to die knowing I got my cancer from 9/11 . I do n't care what NIOSH says . '' Advocates for responders , including medical experts , say that they will petition the institute to amend its rules concerning coverage for oropharyngeal cancer . In a statement , the institute indicated that as new scientific information becomes available , it could modify minimum latencies for certain cancers . `` This has to be a dynamic process where they look at what 's going on this community and say , 'Maybe we need to change this , ' `` Kushlefsky said . Banahan and Meyers have been in remission for several years , yet both remain hypervigilant about cancer , as it could one day reappear . Compensation , they say , would provide some comfort that their families would be supported if they die . But it is less about money , Meyers says , than about not being forgotten . `` There is an abnormal amount of cancers amongst us that are n't in the general population , '' he said . `` This is something that has to be looked at . '' Number of 9/11-related cancer cases growing . 9/11 cancer compensation too late : One man 's story .
Nearly 3,000 cases of 9/11-related cancer among first responders and civilians . A growing number are being diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer . Insurance coverage depends on latency period defined by WTC Health Program .