From the New York Times: Researchers can not yet prove whether the dust and smoke cloud produced by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center caused cancer, federal officials concluded in a report released on Tuesday. That finding means that rescue and recovery workers and people who lived near Grond Zero and have cancer diagnoses that they attribute to the attack for the time being do not qualify for federal benefits to treat or compensate them for their cancer.

The report, released by Dr. John Howard, the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said that there was very little evidence to go on, as there have only been 18 published research studies on the attack that even mentioned cancer, and only five of those were peer-reviewed. The results of the peer-reviewed studies were mixed.

The report was required by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which took effect on Jan. 2; it provides $4.3 billion over the next five years to monitor, treat and compensate people who were exposed to the fumes and dust.

Howard said that a second review of the cancer evidence would be conducted in early to mid-2012. Read the entire article here.