Two new studies show that nearly 17 years after 9/11, the attacks continue to take a toll on first responders.

Both studies were published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

One finds that the risk of developing cancer for 9/11 first responders is up to 30 percent higher than the general public. It also predicts a higher occurrence of three specific cancers - thyroid, prostate and melanoma. 

The second study finds a higher rate of bone marrow cancer in 9/11 responders compared to another group of firefighters in Minnesota.

One silver lining to the grim statistics is that because of continued federal support for the World Trade Center Health Program, the diseases are being caught earlier and more deaths are being prevented.

"We need to put effort as we are doing in cancer screening because the goal of the fire department's World Trade Center health program is not to just successfully treat disease. Rather, it's to cure disease," said Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer with the FDNY.

More than 10,000 New York City firefighters and EMS workers have certified World Trade Center-related illnesses.

One hundred and sixty-four responders have died of their illness, the majority to cancer.