Top oncologist reveals ‘true cause’ of cancer epidemic in young people… and 250m have been exposed
The Covid outbreak might officially be over, but it has triggered a ‘second pandemic’ that will strike for decades to come, according to a top doctor.
Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong has been sounding the alarm for years about the long-term dangers of the Covid virus.
Now, he says disturbing new research confirms his worst fears: Covid acts like an ‘oncogenic virus’ — one that can trigger cancer.
Dr Soon-Shiong believes the virus could help explain why cancer rates among young Americans are projected to surge by nearly 30 percent by 2030 — a spike that has baffled experts.
Other oncogenic viruses include hepatitis B and C, and human papillomavirus (HPV) — which are linked to around 75,000 cancer cases in the US every year.
The new study sparking alarm was carried out by the National Institutes of Health and the University of California San Francisco. It found that Covid may disrupt crucial genes, turning them hyperactive and more vulnerable to cancer-causing mutations.
Worse still, it could interfere with the body’s most powerful defense: tumor-suppressing proteins that act as gatekeepers against rogue cells. With these weakened, the door could be wide open for cancer to take hold years after a Covid infection.
Given that an estimated 77 percent of Americans — nearly 247 million people — have been infected with Covid, the implications could be staggering.
Cancer researcher Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong posted on X about a new study suggesting Covid could increase the risk of cancer
The rates of cancers like colon, pancreatic and liver cancers have surged the most in people born after 1980, a sign of the increased risk among people under 50
Dr Soon-Shiong believes Covid is partly why there has been a worldwide phenomenon of rising cancers in young people rather than just the US and UK.
He wrote on X: ‘My greatest fear was that this hypothesis could be correct and could COVID act like cancer with clinical phases of progression and which would mean a catastrophic non-infectious pandemic of cancer on a global scale in the decades to come.’
‘I feel compelled to present some of the scientists [sic] pertinent findings such that we as a nation must prepare to address this concern,’ he added.
‘The scientists involved in this study include members from the NIH, NIAID, biologists, academia, and physicians. Their work must be taken seriously.’
The stark warning comes as 80,000 people under 40 are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
One of the fastest growing cancers in this age group is colon cancer. According to the latest data, early-onset diagnoses are expected to rise by 90 percent in people 20 to 34 years old from 2010 to 2030.
In teens, rates have surged 500 percent since the early 2000s.
Breast cancer has also become more common, particularly in young women. In the past decade, breast cancer rates have risen `.4 percent, double the increase of women over 50.
Recent reports also show of the 310,000 women diagnosed with breast cancr every year, 13,000 are under 40.
The above graph from the National Cancer Institute shows the increase in cancer prevalence in each age group from 1975 up through 2040 predictions
The above chart from the Environmental Working Group shows a gradual increase in childhood cancers over the past few decades
Recent research shows Covid may lead to widespread inflammation and genetic mutations, both of which can increase the risk of cancer cells forming.
Additionally, Covid spike proteins have been shown to bind to receptors on cells throughout the body and prevent healthy cells from protecting against foreign invaders, such as cancer cells.
However, since Covid is still a relatively new virus, the research connecting it to cancer is still early. Lifestyle factors such as obesity and poor diet have a larger body of evidence behind them.
The new NIH-funded study, published earlier this month in medRxiv, is a preprint, meaning it has not been reviewed by independent experts.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 96 participants. Of those, 58 had symptoms of Long Covid and 38 had recovered from their initial infection.
Both groups were compared to healthy controls who never had Covid.
The researchers found that when compared to healthy controls, ‘several genes promoting oncogenesis’ showed decreases in methylation in people who had previously had Covid.
Bailey Hutchins of Tennessee, pictured at left, died of colon cancer earlier this year at age 26. Actress Olivia Munn, pictured left, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 and underwent a double mastectomy just 30 days later
The above graph shows the increase in US colorectal cancers in men and women from 2000 through 2021
Methylation is when genes are silenced or turned off. Without methylation, genes become overactive and are more likely to cause inflammation and other imbalances.
The researchers wrote the decreased methylation could lead to an increased risk of tumors within a few months of Covid infection.
Additionally, the authors also found Covid proteins remaining in the body were able to degrade proteins in the body that usually protect against cancer in the future.
This, according to their theory, could leave people more vulnerable to cancer later in life.
The researchers also found Covid suppresses p53, a protein that keeps tumors from forming. Dr Soon-Shiong called p53 ‘one of the most important tumor suppressor proteins.’
About 20 million cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2022, but that number is projected to balloon to more than 35 million cases by 2050
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute reported that the overall number of cancer cases in the US was about 461 per 100,000 people, with men seeing higher rates than women
The above graph shows age-specific breast cancer mortality in women from 2018 to 2021
The researchers wrote this suppression supported ‘the hypothesis that COVID-19, in conjunction with other carcinogenic events, chronic inflammation and stress and decreased immune surveillance, may predispose to cancer development over time.’
Dr Soon-Shiong also pointed toward a 2021 study from Georgia State University, which suggested ‘long COVID-19 may predispose recovered patients to cancer development and accelerate cancer progression, though it’s unclear exactly how much it increased the risk.
The researchers said that while Covid is not a traditional oncogenic virus, it compromises the immune system and establishes an ‘oncogenic environment’ that makes it more likely for cancer to form. This includes inflammation.
And during an appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show last month, Dr Soon-Shiong mentioned a 2021 preprint from the University of California San Francisco, which found spike proteins that live on the surface of the Covid virus bind to ACE2 receptors.
The proteins then use those receptors to gain entry into human cells.
Dr Soon-Shiong said on the podcast that when spike proteins bind to those receptors, they trigger inflammation that suppresses cells meant to kill diseased cells, such as cancer cells.
This could lead to a surge in cancers, especially in areas with large amounts of these ACE2 receptors like the pancreas and colon.
Researchers in the UK have also found spike proteins can reawaken dormant cancer cells and fuel their growth, increasing the risk of breast, stomach, and blood cancers.
And a 2024 study found when mice who previously had cancer were infected with the Covid virus, cancer cells multiplied and spread to the lungs.
Dr Soon-Shiong warned all of the recent studies linking Covid to cancer should ‘serve as a wake up call to the nation.’
He also called for more research looking into this relationship so scientists can figure out how to lower risk.
‘We have an opportunity to lead and find a solution. We must and we will,’ he said.
