Cancer

The Cancer in Iowa Report published annually by the Iowa Cancer Registry gives an overview of the current burden of cancer in the state. This year's report features findings from the Agricultural Health Study, one of the world's largest and longest-running active studies of agricultural exposures and health. We talk with Iowa Cancer Registry Director Mary Charlton about this year's report which estimates this year that 21,700 Iowans will be diagnosed with cancer and 6,400 Iowans will die of cancer. We'll also talk with principal investigator of the Agricultural Health Study Laura Beane Freeman about the findings from their study that began in the mid-1990s with participants from Iowa and North Carolina. David Cwiertny of the University of Iowa's Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination also joins to discuss various environmental factors in the state that may be contributing to cancer diagnoses.

In 2022, Ava Jones was an outstanding high school basketball player, heading for a college career at the University of Iowa, when her life changed in a moment. Jones was walking with her parents and younger brother in Louisville, Kentucky, when an impaired driver jumped the curb and struck them. Ava and her mother Amy were seriously injured, and her father Trey died days after the incident. The University of Iowa honored Jones' scholarship to attend college, and 2025 brought her another life-altering circumstance: a cancer diagnosis. She is now in remission and shares her story of resilience. Later in the episode, Cathy McMullen of Iowa State University joins to talk about woodland wildflowers that are beginning to bloom around the state, and how Iowans can grow their own.

A report by the Iowa Environmental Council and Harkin Institute looked at peer-reviewed research on environmental factors and cancer.

The 2026 Cancer in Iowa report by the Iowa Cancer Registry found new rates of cancer diagnoses in Iowa remain some of the highest in the nation.

Iowa’s House and Senate leaders said Thursday they need more time to review an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that aims to increase the supply of glyphosate-based weedkillers in the U.S. It comes as the state Legislature decides whether to shield pesticide companies from certain lawsuits.

A report published this week by Investigate Midwest dives into the connection between pesticide use and rising cases of cancer for those in farming communities nationwide. Editor in Chief Ben Felder details the findings, and we hear from two Iowans that recently fought cancer who are featured in the article. Later in the episode, Luther College junior Mansur Kasali led a student initiative focused on making the federal budget and national debt a matter of shared civic responsibility, rather than abstract politics.