Climate Change and Cancer

TheoryLab

Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH—Senior Principal Scientist in the Data Science Research team at the American Cancer Society—has broken new ground with her research into climate change and cancer. In 2019, she published work showing how disasters such as hurricanes can interrupt the provision of oncology care. Radiotherapy is particularly vulnerable, because it requires dependable electrical power and the daily presence of specialized teams and patients for treatment delivery. She followed that up this year with a look at how climate change increases exposure to carcinogens and disrupts access to cancer care: “Climate change is already increasing cancer risk through increased exposure to carcinogens after extreme weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires. In addition to increasing cancer risk, climate change is also impacting cancer survival. Extreme weather events can impede patients' access to cancer care and the ability of cancer treatment facilities to deliver care. For these reasons, cancer treatment facilities should ensure that their disaster preparedness plans can withstand climate threats and should evaluate and mitigate their own contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, many actions that address climate change also reduce carcinogen releases or exposures.” (Article: Climate Change and Cancer, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, July 2020, https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21610) 1:28 – How she first became interested in this line of research 3:53 – On how climate change increases cancer risk 4:44 – Recent examples of extreme weather increasing our exposure to carcinogens 6:49 – How climate change and resulting extreme weather events has impacted cancer care 10:27 – Why cancer patients are especially vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters on their care 11:58 – What cancer patients can do to be prepared if disaster strikes, and some helpful resources 14:26 – How cancer care facilities can make themselves more resilient to the threats of climate change 16:50 – On the carbon footprint involved in cancer care, and some interesting ways it could be reduced 20:10 – What listeners can do to help 22:11 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers