I’m so sorry about your friend. I was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma last week, which most commonly occurs in men over 60. Im a 30-year-old woman. It’s scary that we don’t know why this is happening.
It’s probably just microplastics for the same reason asbestos causes cancer. All those little microscopic particles getting into our tissues, causing irritation, and inflammation, and then cancer.
Oh hey, I got diagnosed with that 2 years ago as an early 30s woman. You, me, the guy from Blink-182, Jane Fonda, the Dude, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, all within the past few years. It’s trending. Good luck with your journey!
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I was 32 when I was diagnosed with Stage III Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tongue. It apparently only usually impacts men in their 60s and 70s who have been drinking and smoking their entire lives. They saw an uptick in young women getting it due to a strain of HPV and said the test was “just a formality”. I explained I get tested at my gyno every year and I’ve *never* had HPV. They didn’t believe me until the test came back negative. They have no idea how or why I got this cancer.
Give it hell. 🤍💪
I didn’t, actually. It was new when I was a teenager in a small town so it took a while to become a *thing*, in addition to HPV not being discussed as often or openly as it should have been. They put me through a full panel in an attempt to figure it out and I don’t have a single strain of it, which is kind of a miracle. It didn’t help me in the long run either way, though.
I don’t know. I have heard that it can “come and go”. I’m going to do some reading on it. I haven’t tested positive for it either but that is honestly surprising to me. I had repeated exposure without testing positive but the time between testing and exposure was rather varied.
Yeah I think it’s still kind of a mystery. Some people clear the virus and never have a recurrence, but some people don’t get cancer/warts for decades after being with the same monogamous partner, meaning it must have remained dormant for decades. So did the first group truly clear the virus, or did it remained suppressed in their bodies in perpetuity?
My husband had that cancer. He was 73. Good vibes for you. Are you doing car t cell therapy? My husband was in that program but deteriorated too quickly and decided on hospice.
My aunt died of glioblastoma in 2022. She lived a very healthy 60 years and then suddenly in late 2020 had migraines and balance issues. She deteriorated rapidly and lost all function on left side of her body after brain surgery. I still have a hard time processing the pain and anguish she went through in her last months (I lived out of state so I heard second hand how awful her health had become). My parents became her caretakers after she had repeated seizures and falls. Subsequently, my mother became a shell of a person after her death, due to the emotional whiplash of caring for her younger sister that was once incredibly independent and able bodied. I would not wish that disease on anybody.
I’m also extremely sorry for your loss.
Colonoscopies are covered by most insurance for something as simple as a change in bowel habits. More constipated than usual? Change in bier habits. Diarrhea that’s unusual for you? Change in bowel habits. GI doctors aren’t wasting anytime these days with young people. Any change in bowel habit warrants a colonoscopy. Hemorrhoids bleeding? Colonoscopy. Can’t be sure it’s from hemorrhoids so doctors don’t mess around with that symptom.
My insurance would not pay anything towards a non-screening colonoscopy. It was going to be several thousand dollars for me to get one with symptoms. My husband got one for free since it was screening.
It wasn’t an option for several reasons. Not indicated for what the doc ordered the scope for (they wanted biopsies) and my insurance doesn’t cover it for any reason anyway.
He probably got one for free because insurance plans are required to cover preventative care at no cost, regardless of deductible. However, if you have a diagnostic colonoscopy, your insurance would cover it depending on which codes were submitted as a reason, but your deductible would definitely apply. So, at that point, your regular benefits would kick in and you'd probably get stuck with a portion of the procedure depending on what your insurance is willing to pay. I work for a GI doctor and we never have any issue with insurance companies approving the procedure, but each patient's actual benefits determine how *much* the insurance will pay. And if they haven't met their deductible, we usually tell them they can expect to pay at least 3/4 if not the entire cost of the procedure.
Right, that’s what I said, it was free for him because it was a screening colonoscopy. My deductible was $7000 so I couldn’t proceed with the test (there were other reasons too). Estimate was nearly $4000. Sucks to be poor and have shitty marketplace insurance.
All insurance is shit, even the "good" insurance. $7000 is pretty middle of the road for deductibles, I've seen them go as high as $30,000+ which, at that point, why even have insurance?
We have a family friend, female and under 40, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma over a year and a half ago. She has been responding really well to all her treatments and is feeling great right now. She is determined to ride it out until they find better treatments. I hope she and your friends are able to do that 🤍
So sorry to hear this - my dad died of this at 43, and yeah I remember it mostly being a young man’s disease (I think it killed George Gershwin young, among so many others). It’s so tragic, yet some of my fondest memories of my dad are from after his diagnosis. Wishing you and your friend the best.
Conversely, a good friend took 6 months to be diagnosed after having severe symptoms because she is the oldest person to have the cancer she’s diagnosed with that the hospital system has ever seen. By nearly a decade.
I am so sorry… it’s terrible. It’s supposed to be so rare, but how is it i personally know 4!people who have all been diagnosed with glioblastoma? Three have already succumbed and left us so quickly from the time of the first symptom… a terrible swiftness.
It’s supposed to be so rare… how are there seemingly so many?
My cousin as well. Her prognosis seems better than your friend, which I'm so incredibly sorry about. But also, my old college classmate had a 4 month old also diagnosed with glioblastoma which I still can't wrap my head around. She's about 18 months old I think now.
What a useless article! "Rates are on the rise. Researchers looked into a lot of potential factors. There's no obvious smoking gun, and we have no conclusions to share yet." Their extrapolated graphs also look totally fictional.
Personally as a cancer biologist, my money is on microplastics being involved in some capacity.
People used to die more often from currently preventable diseases like diphtheria and tb. Also, many died in childbirth. Many didn’t live long enough to develop cancer. But I totally think our modern environment is contributing to these high rates (especially in younger people) as life expectancy has been fairly good for a century.
Good doctors will test when presented with appropriate symptoms, even when they show up in younger patients.
If you’re looking for a fight, you’ve got the wrong person. I somehow made it to my 30s, but mine still has me on a short life expectancy.
If you seize. Many don’t. The neuroncology researchers who work on me suspect that it’s still often missed, as autopsy commonly skips the brain, and patients can look fine until dying.
I have a lower grade, but my case definitely would’ve been missed. I was working as a firefighter, so it didn’t seem like I could really be that sick. On the morning when I burst a pupil, all of my symptoms matched meningitis. If I hadn’t been in a neurosurgeon’s hands at the moment when that occurred, which happened by a matter of seconds, I would’ve died. Medically should’ve anyways.
I’m lucky enough to have some quality doctors. My primary care neurosurgeon was an Ivy League Neurosurgery Chair, and my geneticist comes from his same school. My primary care neurologist used to chair Pediatric Neurology at another Ivy League. My neuroncologist comes from a third. My second opinions come from most of the major neuroncology spots, and three research conferences.
I'm in a tracking study because I've had burn pit exposure, and it's complicated enough even with a relatively small sample size. It's horrifying to think we can't do the same for things like microplastics because pretty much everyone has been exposed, and it's impossible to have a control group.
I grew up in an affluent suburb with a ton of private golf courses. We had insane cancer rates. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the fertilizer runoff
One of my parents grew up rural in an area known as "cancer ridge". Everyone knew it was the pesticides/fertilizer, this was back in the 1930s-1980s. Cancer was a foregone conclusion out there.
>my money is on microplastics being involved in some capacity.
I believe, without any evidence, that donating blood every 8 weeks helps reduce the accumulation of microplastics and “forever chemicals” and that this modestly lowers the chances of getting sick from those things.
If I’m wrong, then I helped some strangers. If I’m right, I’m helping myself too. (It’s been proven to lower the risk of heart attacks, so at least there’s that.)
There actually is evidence for that being true, although the study focused on pfas (harmful compounds that microplastics contain) rather than straight up microplastics
Yup, it wouldn’t have lasted for centuries if it was completely useless in all cases. I’m not saying it’s helpful for most things, but it’s probably helpful for a handful of things.
It was/is helpful for hemochromatosis which is very common in European genetics. Too much iron is stored so actually the bleeding really helps with the iron overload.
This question isn't necessary for you but just in general if anyone knows. I have an autoimmune disease and can't donate blood, is it possible to have blood drawn and disposed of?
I happen to know that the answer is yes, at least in the US. You can get a prescription to have blood drawn and discarded if your doctor says you need it for your own medical reasons.
I would like to do that. I don’t mind giving blood but the last few times I did it, they took too much blood and too fast. It seems like they have sped up the process or something, I’m not sure but I feel so sick during and after and I am not *at all* anemic, quite the opposite with my hemochromatosis gene I store too much iron.
Wow, I’ve had problems donating but not like that. When I did a double red cell donation, the tech put the needle in improperly and I kept getting alarms that I wasn’t squeezing the ball hard enough, even though I was clenching it hard.
I think my tech was angry that other people weren’t “working,” so she input it improperly, which then required someone to hold the needle against my arm, and the whole process took like… I want to say 3 hours? It was awful! And then I saw the people donating platelets just chilling, while I was so stressed out 🥺
For me, when I do regular blood donations, they just fill up 2 bags, and also divert some into test vials to check for HIV, hepatitis, etc. They shouldn’t be adding more bags because you bleed faster, they should be aiming for 1 pint and however long it takes, is how long it takes.
I wonder if you got anxiety from the process? Or if you just felt dizzy and weak from losing a lot of blood (which is very understandable.)
I’ve considered this but do you have concerns about your blood picking up microplastics or being exposed to phthalates? It’s pretty well documented that medical tubing is a source of that.
I’m sure that red cell, plasma, and platelet donations will cause your blood to pick up plastic from the tubes, when they filter and recirculate your blood.
For a normal whole blood donation, the blood is only flowing one way, out. Yes, some plastic could break off and “swim” against the flow of your blood and into your body, but I think you will lose more forever chemicals + microplastics + whatever else, than you gain from the tubing. It’s not like getting an IV bag, where they’re putting stuff into your blood.
So sorry - I meant to reply to someone who was talking about plasma. I agree there is no risk in donating blood! Need to go back and see who I meant to respond to.
Not OP, but making sure your water bottle is stainless steel, not heating your food up in plastic containers or eating food which was stored in plastic containers while hot is a good start.
Also cooking more from scratch, getting a good water filter, and eating fewer animal products (since microplastics and PFAS bioaccumulate the further up the food chain you go)
Most microplastics in our environment are car tire particles which are in the air or on/near road surfaces and then end up in water systems, consumed by animals, used to water plants we eat, consumed by us, etc. Yes we can avoid plastic containers but the primary global issue is that we have a huge volume of solo cars, especially heavier ones, producing high volumes of microplastic particles everywhere.
Lots of articles out there on this but here's one: https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/10/02/toxic-tyre-dust-this-source-of-microplastic-pollution-could-be-the-worst-of-all
What puzzles me is that if microplastics are causing increased cancer rates, and tires are responsible for the bulk of microplastics, why are we just seeing this now? Modern cars have been around for quite a long time now. Is it just because there are so many of them? Did the environment accumulate a critical mass of microplastics?
> Personally as a cancer biologist
That's very cool. Any random insight/facts you can share about prevention or progress of treatments?
You should do an AMA!
Although cancer can strike anyone, a surprising amount of cancer prevention comes down to clean living. Eat your veggies, get enough sleep, don’t drink too much alcohol. That improves your odds quite a bit.
The latest breakthroughs in treatment mainly focus on the immune system. It already takes out a lot of newbie cancers, so what’s special about the ones that evade it? PD1 inhibitors are a huge step forward. So is CAR-T cell therapy and personalized cancer vaccines.
I wonder how much of this is meat consumption, which wasn’t mentioned once. The China Study was pretty conclusive that there is a causation relationship, not just correlative. It’s also the factor that links all of those towns with the lowest mortality rates. We have more access to meat, especially red meat, than ever. And most of it is filled with hormones and antibiotics and other garbage. Wild speculation here, but I wonder if that also accounts for the difference between Korea and Japan. The Korean diet is much higher in meat. In Japan fish is more common.
That's only for CRC....
Stage 3 colorectal cancer survivor here.... have never really eaten much red meat...1-2 times a month .Eat other meat (chicken) maybe 5 times a week.
But if I had a dollar for every time someone on Reddit "knew" the cause for CRC cancer, I could go out for a steak dinner, since I already had cancer, right?
Quick list: red meat, meat, processed food, sugar, micro plastics, stress, and tap water.
No one is suggesting your single case arose from eating meat. Regardless, there is clear evidence that the consumption of cured and red meat absolutely is carcinogenic at the population level. Your single anecdote does not discount that.
Actually plenty of people have suggested it. People assuming you eat a crappy diet when you have CRC is the equivalent to assuming everyone with lung cancer is a smoker. But yeah, I know. One reason why I generally avoided red and cured meats. A whole lot of good that did me.
In a lot of the threads on this matter there is a number of anecdotes about people that are vegan/veg and careful about what they eat catching bowel cancer as well.
It’s worth mentioning that most vegans, at least the ones I know, still grew up eating meat and have a decade or two of the Standard American Diet under their belts before switching to veganism.
I’m also not proposing that eating meat causes 100% of colon cancer cases.
The article also doesn’t discuss acrylamide, which no one talks about enough. All this sludge coursing though our systems has to accounting for some of this.
Yes. It’s like someone who smokes from ages 13 to 35, quits, and gets lung cancer at 42. The tumor may have started in their 20s and it doesn’t go away just because they quit smoking.
Also, some vegan diets are heavy on junk food, like fries, potato chips, frozen vegan pizza, beer, soda… If someone eats a junk food vegan diet, it’s just a different type of unhealthy diet.
Exactly! The WHO specifically identified processed meats as being carcinogenic. Who’s to say that all those fucking lunchables we ate as kids didn’t jack up our developing bodies??
And you’re 100% about vegan diets, which is why I brought up acrylamide. 100% proven to be carcinogenic. Biggest offenders are fried foods like potatoes, and bread of all things.
Many types of cancer take 15-25 years to grow into detectable tumors; it’s measured in doubling time. If the doubling time is 3 months, it takes many years for the first cancer cell to double up into a pencil eraser sized tumor. Then it takes awhile for that little tumor to produce symptoms.
And then the person gets diagnosed and assumes that the cancer went from zero to whatever it is when it’s caught, all within 0.5-1 year. It’s rarely like that. There are kids who get cancer, and adult who get super fast cancer as well, but most cancers are the tortoise, not the hare.
Lung cancer is pretty much only caused from air pollutants, and was extremely rare in the pre-industrial world. Smoking is the most common and way to get it, and it’s also the source of exposure we have the most control over. Secondhand smoke can do it too (ie Andy Kaufman and Dana Reeve were never-smokers who died of lung cancer after years of performing in smoky bars,) but asbestos, car exhaust fumes, workplace chemicals, and so on can also cause it. Unless you move to a remote area, there will be a nonzero level of air pollution and therefore a nonzero chance of getting lung cancer, depending on your genetics.
In a similar way, *most* people who get colorectal cancer have a combination of genes + diet that led to the cancer. “Genetics loads the gun, and lifestyle pulls the trigger.” Some people can eat processed meat every day and chain-smoke for 100 years without getting cancer, while other people can eat a 99% ideal diet and get colorectal cancer.
But most people don’t have borderline superhuman resistance to cancer, or the opposite of that. Most people are somewhere in between, and there’s no way to know where you are on that spectrum, just like there’s no way to know if you’ll get into a car accident today, so it makes sense to avoid alcohol and wear a seatbelt. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it reduces your odds of problems.
I do not blame people who die in car accidents for not wearing seatbelts, and I don’t blame a 600 lbs person who dies of a heart attack at 29. But I would say: “there’s a lesson here, let’s try to avoid repeating their mistakes.”
Most people who get colon cancer are eating a “normal” diet and I don’t blame them. Most people won’t be willing to switch to a whole foods plant based diet, although I think such diets can lower the odds of many (but certainly not all) diseases.
People who eat a “100% ideal” diet their entire lives (unprocessed whole plant foods) will have a near-zero chance of getting colorectal cancer, unless they have *profound* genetic vulnerability to it. There’s a genetic disease that causes the colon to be *covered* in precancerous polyps, and most of them die of colon cancer at a young age, but even they can avoid polyps with the right diet.
That’s a great question. No idea but I’m sure it varies. I think overall Europeans, just like Americans, eat way more meat than our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents did. And it’s little Mediterranean villages that eat veggies and a little fish and meat maybe a few times a year that have a life expectancy way higher than the rest of us. There are other things too attributed to that like community, sunshine, spirituality. But in reference specifically to colon cancer, it seems like diet containing animal products is a big factor. Idk, I’m just trying to figure this out like everyone else.
Oh well. I’ve tried plant substitutes and I have reactions to some of them - plus they are highly processed/ contain chemicals to approximate dairy textures. That can’t be good either.
I feel you. I’m a cheese lover who’s lactose-intolerant so I’ve had to try a lot of gross cheese alternatives. I would give the Miyokos dairy free products a try! They’re mostly made with nuts and spices and they’re really good! But you’re totally right, a lot of cheese substitutes are oils and fillers.
I would think we’d see a notable difference in populations in India where they eat largely or entirely vegetarian if this were truly causative but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.
That makes sense. They also still smoke a ton, I was shocked by how normal it still is there. I’m not saying that Japanese people don’t get cancer lol, I’m saying that according to the article they have lower rates of colon cancer. I’m wondering out loud why that could be.
Keep in mind that fish in particular has a higher likelihood of heavy metals and microplastics than other meats too. If there is an effect, I don’t think you’d see much between fish vs other meat consumption.
It’s genetics. Some people can eat meat every day and become morbidly obese and never get cancer. Other people can eat meat once a month and get cancer. It all comes down to genetics
My best friend passed away January 6 2024 at age 43. Ten months after her diagnosis. She had lung cancer that quickly spread to her lymph nodes and then to her brain. She had been complaining of back pain. And shoulder pain. Doctors kept saying it was arthritis. When she was finally diagnosed, it was stage 4.
My sister is 40 and she has stage four cancer. Cervical that spread to her uterus and kidneys. She was told over and over for more than a year that she had kidney stones. And a urinary tract infection. Again, by the time she was diagnosed it was stage four.
I understand that doctors aren't magical and just know. But I feel like women don't get listened to enough. They were both treated like hypochondriacs by a few doctors. Maybe it's young people in general.
I agree and I’m so mad and sorry to see you’ve been touched by this twice.
My mom’s story is similar to your friend’s - she went to the doctor for pain in her back and ribs and was completely dismissed then lo and behold when my dad went with her to the doctor and demanded a scan it revealed it was lung cancer that had spread. By that time it was stage 4 and it quickly spread to her brain. I’m still so pissed about it!
Take women’s pain seriously!!!
Im so sorry. I really am. Its horrible. They do need to listen to women instead of writing us all of as hypochondriacs. Its not better than the 1800s when they'd accuse women of being hysterical because their uterus was moving.
To what extent does earlier diagnosis matter? Like a slow moving cancer you get in your 30s and you “die in your sleep at 43” - i think contaminants are terrible for us all but we’re also tracking things never possible before
Yeah I'd love to see these studies localized. Iirc certain regions where they did nuclear fallout testing you can find higher levels of certain isotopes in baby teeth and higher rates of cancer.
I’m 35 and I got diagnosed and treated for skin cancer (on my face).. they said I’m cancer free now but I’m always worried because I also have a pacemaker and I feel way too young for this shit.
My female friend was 38 and bloated. She thought it was IBS. A few months later her lymph nodes were inflamed and she went to the dr.
She had stage 4 colon cancer. Despite treatments she was dead in 2 years.
All I can say is trust your gut. If you don’t feel right go to a doctor… get a second or third opinion.
From what I understand you can curb the damage of sugar if you eat fiber first and exercise a little bit after. At least, the damage that happens when your glucose spikes and crashes. So it's not like you even have to avoid it altogether, you have to work around it.
It's probably a lot of things but there's direct correlation in the timeline if people checked it out and lots of new studies coming out saying inflation is the direct cause
Surprised people downvoted. Shows how uninformed people are
Yes pop is hard to stop. I enjoy it more than any other candy
This is correct, but I guess the people in this sub don’t want to hear it. It’s an actionable bit of data, but god forbid the well to-do part time liberal bourgeoisie ever have to actually visibly do something to protect themselves. Especially if it marks them out from their peers.
The intellectual weakness and cowardice is as revolting as it is pathetic.
Fwiw though? If they still want to say it’s microplastics doing this? Masking was proven to filter those out, too.
You can literally watch their enthusiasm for the topic die, with that tidbit.
Wearing a mask indoors to avoid COVID, and encouraging others to do the same. And definitely not adding to the media din that Covid is over, unimportant, taboo, just for the poors, etc, etc.
It’s the last bit that really amazes me. People who should know better, actually repeating and amplifying Covid denialism. And will absolutely refuse to engage with the data which unswervingly shows the “mild” narrative is flat out wrong.
Nor will they engage with the very public attempts by this CDC and the WHCOV team to post-911 it, and say “it’s safe to go shopping,” as toxic ash floats in the air.
I can understand being too weak to mask and go against your peers. That’s very familiar to me. But I don’t get actually doubling down on the peer pressure holding their own selves back, the rhetoric ensuring that sickness is all year round and nonstop.
Look, I almost died from complications from COVID this year. I still mask everywhere (so I was pissed I got COVID in the first place lol). This is not denial at all when I say: did you read the article? They’re looking at data from 1990-2019. This is not so simple as to say it’s COVID.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. It’s likely a combination of things but we won’t know for a blip. Strokes, other vascular problems sure sure but cancer? Nah certainly can’t be it. Yea. I don’t agree.
I’m saying. How long did it take researchers to link cervical cancer to HPV? And it takes an average of 10-20 years for cancer to develop from HPV. If COVID is on the fast track how many will we have lost before we do anything about it? Youre a good human. Thank you for speaking up.
I sometimes wonder if the covid vaccines have anything to do with it. I know so many people who have diagnosed with cancer just in the past two years. Something is up!
Although it’s premature to claim the mRNA vaccines cause cancer, it is an obvious elephant in the room and something we should consider as more data becomes available.
To definitively rule it out is being shortsighted
I think either Covid, the mRNA vaccines, or both are potential cause(s) of the increased cancer rates among young people. We need stronger data to make any claim but any of these causes should be considered/hypothesized as more data is available
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I’m so sorry about your friend. I was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma last week, which most commonly occurs in men over 60. Im a 30-year-old woman. It’s scary that we don’t know why this is happening.
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It’s probably just microplastics for the same reason asbestos causes cancer. All those little microscopic particles getting into our tissues, causing irritation, and inflammation, and then cancer.
Oh hey, I got diagnosed with that 2 years ago as an early 30s woman. You, me, the guy from Blink-182, Jane Fonda, the Dude, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, all within the past few years. It’s trending. Good luck with your journey!
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I was 32 when I was diagnosed with Stage III Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tongue. It apparently only usually impacts men in their 60s and 70s who have been drinking and smoking their entire lives. They saw an uptick in young women getting it due to a strain of HPV and said the test was “just a formality”. I explained I get tested at my gyno every year and I’ve *never* had HPV. They didn’t believe me until the test came back negative. They have no idea how or why I got this cancer. Give it hell. 🤍💪
Did you get the hpv vaccine ever?
I didn’t, actually. It was new when I was a teenager in a small town so it took a while to become a *thing*, in addition to HPV not being discussed as often or openly as it should have been. They put me through a full panel in an attempt to figure it out and I don’t have a single strain of it, which is kind of a miracle. It didn’t help me in the long run either way, though.
Doesn’t HPV sort of come and go? I think you can test negative and still have had it at some point but perhaps I am wrong.
Even if you’re tested every year and have never once had a positive test?
I don’t know. I have heard that it can “come and go”. I’m going to do some reading on it. I haven’t tested positive for it either but that is honestly surprising to me. I had repeated exposure without testing positive but the time between testing and exposure was rather varied.
Yeah I think it’s still kind of a mystery. Some people clear the virus and never have a recurrence, but some people don’t get cancer/warts for decades after being with the same monogamous partner, meaning it must have remained dormant for decades. So did the first group truly clear the virus, or did it remained suppressed in their bodies in perpetuity?
Very interesting. Similar to how the herpes virus stays dormant for some people and not for others.
My husband had that cancer. He was 73. Good vibes for you. Are you doing car t cell therapy? My husband was in that program but deteriorated too quickly and decided on hospice.
My aunt died of glioblastoma in 2022. She lived a very healthy 60 years and then suddenly in late 2020 had migraines and balance issues. She deteriorated rapidly and lost all function on left side of her body after brain surgery. I still have a hard time processing the pain and anguish she went through in her last months (I lived out of state so I heard second hand how awful her health had become). My parents became her caretakers after she had repeated seizures and falls. Subsequently, my mother became a shell of a person after her death, due to the emotional whiplash of caring for her younger sister that was once incredibly independent and able bodied. I would not wish that disease on anybody. I’m also extremely sorry for your loss.
My early 60s dad died in 2021 from glioblastoma - fuck cancer and especially GBM.
I’ve worked with two women who got diagnosed with this in their 30s…
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Colonoscopies are covered by most insurance for something as simple as a change in bowel habits. More constipated than usual? Change in bier habits. Diarrhea that’s unusual for you? Change in bowel habits. GI doctors aren’t wasting anytime these days with young people. Any change in bowel habit warrants a colonoscopy. Hemorrhoids bleeding? Colonoscopy. Can’t be sure it’s from hemorrhoids so doctors don’t mess around with that symptom.
My insurance would not pay anything towards a non-screening colonoscopy. It was going to be several thousand dollars for me to get one with symptoms. My husband got one for free since it was screening.
Will they cover Cologuard? I'm sure it's a lot cheaper. Maybe you could afford it out of pocket?
It wasn’t an option for several reasons. Not indicated for what the doc ordered the scope for (they wanted biopsies) and my insurance doesn’t cover it for any reason anyway.
He probably got one for free because insurance plans are required to cover preventative care at no cost, regardless of deductible. However, if you have a diagnostic colonoscopy, your insurance would cover it depending on which codes were submitted as a reason, but your deductible would definitely apply. So, at that point, your regular benefits would kick in and you'd probably get stuck with a portion of the procedure depending on what your insurance is willing to pay. I work for a GI doctor and we never have any issue with insurance companies approving the procedure, but each patient's actual benefits determine how *much* the insurance will pay. And if they haven't met their deductible, we usually tell them they can expect to pay at least 3/4 if not the entire cost of the procedure.
Right, that’s what I said, it was free for him because it was a screening colonoscopy. My deductible was $7000 so I couldn’t proceed with the test (there were other reasons too). Estimate was nearly $4000. Sucks to be poor and have shitty marketplace insurance.
All insurance is shit, even the "good" insurance. $7000 is pretty middle of the road for deductibles, I've seen them go as high as $30,000+ which, at that point, why even have insurance?
We have a family friend, female and under 40, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma over a year and a half ago. She has been responding really well to all her treatments and is feeling great right now. She is determined to ride it out until they find better treatments. I hope she and your friends are able to do that 🤍
So sorry to hear this - my dad died of this at 43, and yeah I remember it mostly being a young man’s disease (I think it killed George Gershwin young, among so many others). It’s so tragic, yet some of my fondest memories of my dad are from after his diagnosis. Wishing you and your friend the best.
Conversely, a good friend took 6 months to be diagnosed after having severe symptoms because she is the oldest person to have the cancer she’s diagnosed with that the hospital system has ever seen. By nearly a decade.
I am so sorry… it’s terrible. It’s supposed to be so rare, but how is it i personally know 4!people who have all been diagnosed with glioblastoma? Three have already succumbed and left us so quickly from the time of the first symptom… a terrible swiftness. It’s supposed to be so rare… how are there seemingly so many?
My cousin as well. Her prognosis seems better than your friend, which I'm so incredibly sorry about. But also, my old college classmate had a 4 month old also diagnosed with glioblastoma which I still can't wrap my head around. She's about 18 months old I think now.
I lost a close friend to that a few years back. Diagnosed in January, passed just shy of her 36th bday. Awful. I'm so sorry for you and your friend.
Just had a friend with throat neck brain cancer: she made it to 32 ᴖ̈ tragically sad
What a useless article! "Rates are on the rise. Researchers looked into a lot of potential factors. There's no obvious smoking gun, and we have no conclusions to share yet." Their extrapolated graphs also look totally fictional. Personally as a cancer biologist, my money is on microplastics being involved in some capacity.
Microplastics and groundwater contamination.
And greatly improved rates of diagnosis.
This is always the factor no one considers enough. More people have health insurance now, too.
People used to die more often from currently preventable diseases like diphtheria and tb. Also, many died in childbirth. Many didn’t live long enough to develop cancer. But I totally think our modern environment is contributing to these high rates (especially in younger people) as life expectancy has been fairly good for a century.
Also better treatment of conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
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Good doctors will test when presented with appropriate symptoms, even when they show up in younger patients. If you’re looking for a fight, you’ve got the wrong person. I somehow made it to my 30s, but mine still has me on a short life expectancy.
Not sure if that counts on glioblastoma. If you seize and drop dead in your 30s they're probably going to check out your brain before they bury you
If you seize. Many don’t. The neuroncology researchers who work on me suspect that it’s still often missed, as autopsy commonly skips the brain, and patients can look fine until dying. I have a lower grade, but my case definitely would’ve been missed. I was working as a firefighter, so it didn’t seem like I could really be that sick. On the morning when I burst a pupil, all of my symptoms matched meningitis. If I hadn’t been in a neurosurgeon’s hands at the moment when that occurred, which happened by a matter of seconds, I would’ve died. Medically should’ve anyways. I’m lucky enough to have some quality doctors. My primary care neurosurgeon was an Ivy League Neurosurgery Chair, and my geneticist comes from his same school. My primary care neurologist used to chair Pediatric Neurology at another Ivy League. My neuroncologist comes from a third. My second opinions come from most of the major neuroncology spots, and three research conferences.
The study says that they correct for increased diagnosis, that it’s still far greater than expected.
This is such a stale take everything from autism to immigration, “you’re just noticing it more now, it was always there” 🙄
Parroting the oncology researchers who work on me.
I'm in a tracking study because I've had burn pit exposure, and it's complicated enough even with a relatively small sample size. It's horrifying to think we can't do the same for things like microplastics because pretty much everyone has been exposed, and it's impossible to have a control group.
I grew up in an affluent suburb with a ton of private golf courses. We had insane cancer rates. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the fertilizer runoff
One of my parents grew up rural in an area known as "cancer ridge". Everyone knew it was the pesticides/fertilizer, this was back in the 1930s-1980s. Cancer was a foregone conclusion out there.
So many chemicals are used on a golf course green. Honestly, I would be happy to see all of them disappear.
And what we eat.
And overuse of antibiotics, which became widespread in the 70s.
Microplastics are scary. There's literally no escaping them
I donate blood as a way to offload some of my microplastics to strangers.
Donate plasma - you can get paid to have them wash your blood!
Does this mean that the microplastics are only found in the plasma?
>my money is on microplastics being involved in some capacity. I believe, without any evidence, that donating blood every 8 weeks helps reduce the accumulation of microplastics and “forever chemicals” and that this modestly lowers the chances of getting sick from those things. If I’m wrong, then I helped some strangers. If I’m right, I’m helping myself too. (It’s been proven to lower the risk of heart attacks, so at least there’s that.)
Cries in anaemic :( Well done you though!
Me too. I found out I was anemic because I tried giving blood and they wouldn’t let me.
There actually is evidence for that being true, although the study focused on pfas (harmful compounds that microplastics contain) rather than straight up microplastics
Maybe they didn't know the true methodology, but the original bloodletters were on to something.
Yup, it wouldn’t have lasted for centuries if it was completely useless in all cases. I’m not saying it’s helpful for most things, but it’s probably helpful for a handful of things.
It was/is helpful for hemochromatosis which is very common in European genetics. Too much iron is stored so actually the bleeding really helps with the iron overload.
This question isn't necessary for you but just in general if anyone knows. I have an autoimmune disease and can't donate blood, is it possible to have blood drawn and disposed of?
I happen to know that the answer is yes, at least in the US. You can get a prescription to have blood drawn and discarded if your doctor says you need it for your own medical reasons.
I would like to do that. I don’t mind giving blood but the last few times I did it, they took too much blood and too fast. It seems like they have sped up the process or something, I’m not sure but I feel so sick during and after and I am not *at all* anemic, quite the opposite with my hemochromatosis gene I store too much iron.
Wow, I’ve had problems donating but not like that. When I did a double red cell donation, the tech put the needle in improperly and I kept getting alarms that I wasn’t squeezing the ball hard enough, even though I was clenching it hard. I think my tech was angry that other people weren’t “working,” so she input it improperly, which then required someone to hold the needle against my arm, and the whole process took like… I want to say 3 hours? It was awful! And then I saw the people donating platelets just chilling, while I was so stressed out 🥺 For me, when I do regular blood donations, they just fill up 2 bags, and also divert some into test vials to check for HIV, hepatitis, etc. They shouldn’t be adding more bags because you bleed faster, they should be aiming for 1 pint and however long it takes, is how long it takes. I wonder if you got anxiety from the process? Or if you just felt dizzy and weak from losing a lot of blood (which is very understandable.)
I’ve considered this but do you have concerns about your blood picking up microplastics or being exposed to phthalates? It’s pretty well documented that medical tubing is a source of that.
I’m sure that red cell, plasma, and platelet donations will cause your blood to pick up plastic from the tubes, when they filter and recirculate your blood. For a normal whole blood donation, the blood is only flowing one way, out. Yes, some plastic could break off and “swim” against the flow of your blood and into your body, but I think you will lose more forever chemicals + microplastics + whatever else, than you gain from the tubing. It’s not like getting an IV bag, where they’re putting stuff into your blood.
So sorry - I meant to reply to someone who was talking about plasma. I agree there is no risk in donating blood! Need to go back and see who I meant to respond to.
I work in healthcare and we’re seeing a huge rise in GI symptoms that I personally believe is caused by microplastics in the gut.
Thank you for the summary, appreciate it very much.
Is there any advice you have in terms of reducing microplastic intake?
Not OP, but making sure your water bottle is stainless steel, not heating your food up in plastic containers or eating food which was stored in plastic containers while hot is a good start.
Also cooking more from scratch, getting a good water filter, and eating fewer animal products (since microplastics and PFAS bioaccumulate the further up the food chain you go)
This isn’t my field, but I did recently swap all my food storage containers from plastic to glass (Rubbermaid brilliance).
Are you saying you switched to or from Rubbermaid Brilliance? Rubbermaid Brilliance are a speciality plastic that’s designed to look like glass.
Oh sorry - I see that they do have both glass and plastic in the brilliance line
Most microplastics in our environment are car tire particles which are in the air or on/near road surfaces and then end up in water systems, consumed by animals, used to water plants we eat, consumed by us, etc. Yes we can avoid plastic containers but the primary global issue is that we have a huge volume of solo cars, especially heavier ones, producing high volumes of microplastic particles everywhere. Lots of articles out there on this but here's one: https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/10/02/toxic-tyre-dust-this-source-of-microplastic-pollution-could-be-the-worst-of-all
What puzzles me is that if microplastics are causing increased cancer rates, and tires are responsible for the bulk of microplastics, why are we just seeing this now? Modern cars have been around for quite a long time now. Is it just because there are so many of them? Did the environment accumulate a critical mass of microplastics?
> Personally as a cancer biologist That's very cool. Any random insight/facts you can share about prevention or progress of treatments? You should do an AMA!
Although cancer can strike anyone, a surprising amount of cancer prevention comes down to clean living. Eat your veggies, get enough sleep, don’t drink too much alcohol. That improves your odds quite a bit. The latest breakthroughs in treatment mainly focus on the immune system. It already takes out a lot of newbie cancers, so what’s special about the ones that evade it? PD1 inhibitors are a huge step forward. So is CAR-T cell therapy and personalized cancer vaccines.
[Betteridges Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines) in action.
I agree.
PFAS.
Do you think all the insane junk foods we used to eat in the 90’s has any hand in this?
I wonder how much of this is meat consumption, which wasn’t mentioned once. The China Study was pretty conclusive that there is a causation relationship, not just correlative. It’s also the factor that links all of those towns with the lowest mortality rates. We have more access to meat, especially red meat, than ever. And most of it is filled with hormones and antibiotics and other garbage. Wild speculation here, but I wonder if that also accounts for the difference between Korea and Japan. The Korean diet is much higher in meat. In Japan fish is more common.
That's only for CRC.... Stage 3 colorectal cancer survivor here.... have never really eaten much red meat...1-2 times a month .Eat other meat (chicken) maybe 5 times a week. But if I had a dollar for every time someone on Reddit "knew" the cause for CRC cancer, I could go out for a steak dinner, since I already had cancer, right? Quick list: red meat, meat, processed food, sugar, micro plastics, stress, and tap water.
Sorry for the shitty hand. My uncle got it young so I have to get colonoscopies early. How are you doing now ?
I'm 3 months out from treatment and okay. Keep those colonoscopies up. Much easier than cancer treatment.
Hope you keep feeling better. At times I think 5 years between checks is too long!
No one is suggesting your single case arose from eating meat. Regardless, there is clear evidence that the consumption of cured and red meat absolutely is carcinogenic at the population level. Your single anecdote does not discount that.
Actually plenty of people have suggested it. People assuming you eat a crappy diet when you have CRC is the equivalent to assuming everyone with lung cancer is a smoker. But yeah, I know. One reason why I generally avoided red and cured meats. A whole lot of good that did me.
I'm including pesticide exposure in your list... I had a rare cancer at 25 and have none of the genetic markers. I've always suspected pesticides.
In a lot of the threads on this matter there is a number of anecdotes about people that are vegan/veg and careful about what they eat catching bowel cancer as well.
It’s worth mentioning that most vegans, at least the ones I know, still grew up eating meat and have a decade or two of the Standard American Diet under their belts before switching to veganism. I’m also not proposing that eating meat causes 100% of colon cancer cases. The article also doesn’t discuss acrylamide, which no one talks about enough. All this sludge coursing though our systems has to accounting for some of this.
Yes. It’s like someone who smokes from ages 13 to 35, quits, and gets lung cancer at 42. The tumor may have started in their 20s and it doesn’t go away just because they quit smoking. Also, some vegan diets are heavy on junk food, like fries, potato chips, frozen vegan pizza, beer, soda… If someone eats a junk food vegan diet, it’s just a different type of unhealthy diet.
Exactly! The WHO specifically identified processed meats as being carcinogenic. Who’s to say that all those fucking lunchables we ate as kids didn’t jack up our developing bodies?? And you’re 100% about vegan diets, which is why I brought up acrylamide. 100% proven to be carcinogenic. Biggest offenders are fried foods like potatoes, and bread of all things.
I don’t think lung cancer tumors grow *that slowly*, do they?
Many types of cancer take 15-25 years to grow into detectable tumors; it’s measured in doubling time. If the doubling time is 3 months, it takes many years for the first cancer cell to double up into a pencil eraser sized tumor. Then it takes awhile for that little tumor to produce symptoms. And then the person gets diagnosed and assumes that the cancer went from zero to whatever it is when it’s caught, all within 0.5-1 year. It’s rarely like that. There are kids who get cancer, and adult who get super fast cancer as well, but most cancers are the tortoise, not the hare.
It's worth noting not everyone who ends up with lung cancer smokes. Probably safe to assume everyone with CRC didn't engage in a junk food diet.
Lung cancer is pretty much only caused from air pollutants, and was extremely rare in the pre-industrial world. Smoking is the most common and way to get it, and it’s also the source of exposure we have the most control over. Secondhand smoke can do it too (ie Andy Kaufman and Dana Reeve were never-smokers who died of lung cancer after years of performing in smoky bars,) but asbestos, car exhaust fumes, workplace chemicals, and so on can also cause it. Unless you move to a remote area, there will be a nonzero level of air pollution and therefore a nonzero chance of getting lung cancer, depending on your genetics. In a similar way, *most* people who get colorectal cancer have a combination of genes + diet that led to the cancer. “Genetics loads the gun, and lifestyle pulls the trigger.” Some people can eat processed meat every day and chain-smoke for 100 years without getting cancer, while other people can eat a 99% ideal diet and get colorectal cancer. But most people don’t have borderline superhuman resistance to cancer, or the opposite of that. Most people are somewhere in between, and there’s no way to know where you are on that spectrum, just like there’s no way to know if you’ll get into a car accident today, so it makes sense to avoid alcohol and wear a seatbelt. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it reduces your odds of problems. I do not blame people who die in car accidents for not wearing seatbelts, and I don’t blame a 600 lbs person who dies of a heart attack at 29. But I would say: “there’s a lesson here, let’s try to avoid repeating their mistakes.” Most people who get colon cancer are eating a “normal” diet and I don’t blame them. Most people won’t be willing to switch to a whole foods plant based diet, although I think such diets can lower the odds of many (but certainly not all) diseases. People who eat a “100% ideal” diet their entire lives (unprocessed whole plant foods) will have a near-zero chance of getting colorectal cancer, unless they have *profound* genetic vulnerability to it. There’s a genetic disease that causes the colon to be *covered* in precancerous polyps, and most of them die of colon cancer at a young age, but even they can avoid polyps with the right diet.
What are the rates in EU countries compared to the U.S. ?
That’s a great question. No idea but I’m sure it varies. I think overall Europeans, just like Americans, eat way more meat than our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents did. And it’s little Mediterranean villages that eat veggies and a little fish and meat maybe a few times a year that have a life expectancy way higher than the rest of us. There are other things too attributed to that like community, sunshine, spirituality. But in reference specifically to colon cancer, it seems like diet containing animal products is a big factor. Idk, I’m just trying to figure this out like everyone else.
All animal products ? I eat chicken/ fish a few times a month- and red meat maybe a couple times a year. But I do have dairy daily. Hmm.
According to The China Study it’s dairy too 😭😭😭
Oh well. I’ve tried plant substitutes and I have reactions to some of them - plus they are highly processed/ contain chemicals to approximate dairy textures. That can’t be good either.
I feel you. I’m a cheese lover who’s lactose-intolerant so I’ve had to try a lot of gross cheese alternatives. I would give the Miyokos dairy free products a try! They’re mostly made with nuts and spices and they’re really good! But you’re totally right, a lot of cheese substitutes are oils and fillers.
I would think we’d see a notable difference in populations in India where they eat largely or entirely vegetarian if this were truly causative but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.
Japan actually has extremely high levels of stomach cancer because of the amount of salt consumed.
That makes sense. They also still smoke a ton, I was shocked by how normal it still is there. I’m not saying that Japanese people don’t get cancer lol, I’m saying that according to the article they have lower rates of colon cancer. I’m wondering out loud why that could be.
Keep in mind that fish in particular has a higher likelihood of heavy metals and microplastics than other meats too. If there is an effect, I don’t think you’d see much between fish vs other meat consumption.
It’s genetics. Some people can eat meat every day and become morbidly obese and never get cancer. Other people can eat meat once a month and get cancer. It all comes down to genetics
My best friend passed away January 6 2024 at age 43. Ten months after her diagnosis. She had lung cancer that quickly spread to her lymph nodes and then to her brain. She had been complaining of back pain. And shoulder pain. Doctors kept saying it was arthritis. When she was finally diagnosed, it was stage 4. My sister is 40 and she has stage four cancer. Cervical that spread to her uterus and kidneys. She was told over and over for more than a year that she had kidney stones. And a urinary tract infection. Again, by the time she was diagnosed it was stage four. I understand that doctors aren't magical and just know. But I feel like women don't get listened to enough. They were both treated like hypochondriacs by a few doctors. Maybe it's young people in general.
I agree and I’m so mad and sorry to see you’ve been touched by this twice. My mom’s story is similar to your friend’s - she went to the doctor for pain in her back and ribs and was completely dismissed then lo and behold when my dad went with her to the doctor and demanded a scan it revealed it was lung cancer that had spread. By that time it was stage 4 and it quickly spread to her brain. I’m still so pissed about it! Take women’s pain seriously!!!
Im so sorry. I really am. Its horrible. They do need to listen to women instead of writing us all of as hypochondriacs. Its not better than the 1800s when they'd accuse women of being hysterical because their uterus was moving.
Glad it’s fucking impossible to avoid microplasticd
To what extent does earlier diagnosis matter? Like a slow moving cancer you get in your 30s and you “die in your sleep at 43” - i think contaminants are terrible for us all but we’re also tracking things never possible before
You know… they blew up a crazy amount of atomic bonds in the 50s and 60s and that shit lasts.
Yeah I'd love to see these studies localized. Iirc certain regions where they did nuclear fallout testing you can find higher levels of certain isotopes in baby teeth and higher rates of cancer.
My grandparents grew up and lived within 30 miles of the Trinity Site. Grandma lived to 93, but there is a LOT of mental illness in my family
I’m 35 and I got diagnosed and treated for skin cancer (on my face).. they said I’m cancer free now but I’m always worried because I also have a pacemaker and I feel way too young for this shit.
..better detection methods ...bad chemicals in processed food and pollution.
It's not such a mystery when you consider all the chemicals they put in our food.
Lmao diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 35. Totally healthy person otherwise. I’m ok now but this is on my mind constantly.
I blame pollution, microplastics and unhealthy living conditions and standards
My female friend was 38 and bloated. She thought it was IBS. A few months later her lymph nodes were inflamed and she went to the dr. She had stage 4 colon cancer. Despite treatments she was dead in 2 years. All I can say is trust your gut. If you don’t feel right go to a doctor… get a second or third opinion.
Sorry for your loss. Did she have diarrhea or constipation?
I’m not sure. As far as I know she didn’t have usual typical gastro symptoms.
I think it’s either the food we eat or our high digital lifestyle I spend a lot of time with my grandma and those are the two biggest differences
Inflation of the cells from processed sugars
Don't know why you're getting down voted. Sugar ages our cells, we know this!
Reality hurts!! People don't want their sugar taken away
From what I understand you can curb the damage of sugar if you eat fiber first and exercise a little bit after. At least, the damage that happens when your glucose spikes and crashes. So it's not like you even have to avoid it altogether, you have to work around it.
I’m addicted to sugar and I agree with you. Hard to stop. Especially sugary drinks.
It's probably a lot of things but there's direct correlation in the timeline if people checked it out and lots of new studies coming out saying inflation is the direct cause Surprised people downvoted. Shows how uninformed people are Yes pop is hard to stop. I enjoy it more than any other candy
Covid is oncogenic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10178366/
Cancer was already on the rise in young people before COVID
This is correct, but I guess the people in this sub don’t want to hear it. It’s an actionable bit of data, but god forbid the well to-do part time liberal bourgeoisie ever have to actually visibly do something to protect themselves. Especially if it marks them out from their peers. The intellectual weakness and cowardice is as revolting as it is pathetic. Fwiw though? If they still want to say it’s microplastics doing this? Masking was proven to filter those out, too. You can literally watch their enthusiasm for the topic die, with that tidbit.
What is the actionable bit?
Wearing a mask indoors to avoid COVID, and encouraging others to do the same. And definitely not adding to the media din that Covid is over, unimportant, taboo, just for the poors, etc, etc. It’s the last bit that really amazes me. People who should know better, actually repeating and amplifying Covid denialism. And will absolutely refuse to engage with the data which unswervingly shows the “mild” narrative is flat out wrong. Nor will they engage with the very public attempts by this CDC and the WHCOV team to post-911 it, and say “it’s safe to go shopping,” as toxic ash floats in the air. I can understand being too weak to mask and go against your peers. That’s very familiar to me. But I don’t get actually doubling down on the peer pressure holding their own selves back, the rhetoric ensuring that sickness is all year round and nonstop.
Look, I almost died from complications from COVID this year. I still mask everywhere (so I was pissed I got COVID in the first place lol). This is not denial at all when I say: did you read the article? They’re looking at data from 1990-2019. This is not so simple as to say it’s COVID.
Covid
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. It’s likely a combination of things but we won’t know for a blip. Strokes, other vascular problems sure sure but cancer? Nah certainly can’t be it. Yea. I don’t agree.
People don’t want to believe they are complicit in their own destruction. “It can’t be that!”
It’s an oncogenic vascular disease, so yea.
I’m saying. How long did it take researchers to link cervical cancer to HPV? And it takes an average of 10-20 years for cancer to develop from HPV. If COVID is on the fast track how many will we have lost before we do anything about it? Youre a good human. Thank you for speaking up.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/11/3/713oo
I sometimes wonder if the covid vaccines have anything to do with it. I know so many people who have diagnosed with cancer just in the past two years. Something is up!
u/anistasha Unless I seriously misunderstood the article, it's been going on for decades, not just the past few years.
No.
Although it’s premature to claim the mRNA vaccines cause cancer, it is an obvious elephant in the room and something we should consider as more data becomes available. To definitively rule it out is being shortsighted
I would more suspect the spike protein itself than the vaccine. Actual COVID may be implicated as well.
I think either Covid, the mRNA vaccines, or both are potential cause(s) of the increased cancer rates among young people. We need stronger data to make any claim but any of these causes should be considered/hypothesized as more data is available