The National League of Cities (NLC), a resource and advocate for thousands of cities, towns, and villages across the United States, recently investigated the link between firefighting and an elevated risk of cancer. The report was inspired by an increasing number of states passing legislation that would offer medical coverage to firefighters who develop cancer.

A Myeloma Beacon article ^[1] published in February 2009 reported that a bill passed in the Oregon House could offer firefighters medical coverage for 12 types of cancers, including multiple myeloma.

Under the Oregon legislation, which was recently signed by the state’s governor and will become effective January 1, 2010, cancer will be considered an occupational disease and covered by state compensation law. Twenty-four states currently cover cancer for firefighters and emergency medical services providers.

The NLC’s report, titled “Assessing State Firefighter Cancer Presumption Laws and Current Firefighter Cancer Research,” concludes that there is not enough substantive scientific evidence to confirm the link.

Four researchers from TriData Corporation were hired to conduct the study and prepare the report. Of the 71 scientific studies chosen for the study’s literature review, 17 were considered scientifically sound and used to examine the link between firefighting and cancer.

While the NLC report acknowledges that some studies did show a slightly elevated risk of cancer in firefighters, they maintain that other studies show no such link. The report found that no study shows cancer occurs in firefighters at a significantly higher rate than in the general population.

Multiple myeloma was discussed in eight of the 17 studies. The NLC report found that only two of the studies show a moderate association between firefighting and myeloma. The remaining six studies were deemed to show no association.

The NLC report concludes that there is a lack of substantive evidence for a link between firefighting and an elevated risk of cancer. The researchers state that coverage of cancer as an occupational disease is not justified, because the issue cannot currently be resolved. Instead, they suggest further rigorous research and the introduction of a firefighter cancer registry to track cancer incidence.

For more information, see the NLC report ^[2].