KCCI Investigates: The facts on Iowa’s cancer ranking in the US
ADEL, Iowa —
In 2023, Iowans learned the state is second in the nation for new cancer cases after cases began rising in 2013.
The issue has now become a topic in public policy, health care, and meetings to help inform residents.
To cut through the misinformation, KCCI Investigates had a conversation about cancer with one of the state’s leading researchers. This is part of KCCI’s ongoing State of Cancer series.
We talked with Mary Charlton, who leads the Iowa Cancer Registry. The registry tracks all cases of the disease and publishes an annual report.
One question heard at a cancer-focused listening session in Adel in July: Why is it a crisis now?
“I think people are hearing a lot about Iowa’s high cancer rates in the news,” Charlton says. “They’re also hearing a lot about environmental risk factors, particularly here in the Des Moines area. You know, people are hearing about things like watering bans and nitrates in the water.”
Researchers continue to look at Iowa’s top forms of cancer and what’s behind it.
“In August, the report will go to the state from the team that’s looking into the Key Drivers of Cancer in Iowa Project,” she says. “Inform yourselves, inform your own opinions about how you view cancer in Iowa.”
Iowa also has the second-highest rate of new cancer cases for young adults, those ages 20-39.