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False claim COVID-19 vaccines are linked to 'spike' in cancer cases | Fact check

Andre Byik
USA TODAY

The claim: Scientists found COVID-19 vaccines are linked to increase in cancer cases

A March 7 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows President Joe Biden delivering his State of the Union speech.

"The pandemic no longer controls our lives," Biden says in the video. "The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to beat cancer, turning setback into comeback."

The post's caption reads, "In actuality, what scientists are finding is the OPPOSITE – There is a SPIKE in cancer related TO the COVID shots."

The post was liked more than 9,000 times in five days.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer or are associated with a greater risk of developing cancer, experts said.

Biden touts COVID vaccine technology to fight cancer

Biden's comment on COVID-19 vaccines was a reference to his Cancer Moonshot initiative to accelerate advances in cancer research. In 2023, he announced a program to adapt the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines to "turn more cancers into curable diseases."

Experts said there is no evidence showing any link between the COVID-19 vaccines and cancer.

"Biden’s statement was referring to the mRNA/nanoparticle platform now being used to develop vaccines against cancer," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said in an email. "There are no data to even suggest that COVID-19 shots are linked to cancer."

Gavin Dunn, a neurosurgeon who specializes in neurosurgical oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, likewise said there is no data showing a causal link between COVID-19 vaccines and cancer.

"mRNA vaccines are, in fact, being used to therapeutically vaccinate patients with cancers, which is exciting," he said.

Claims that COVID-19 vaccines are associated with a greater risk of developing cancer have been circulating for years, but there is no evidence to support these assertions, said Victoria Chou, a maternal and child health epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Fact check: False claim Moderna admitted mRNA vaccines cause 'turbo-cancer'

"There is research that has examined when/how/conditions in which it is safe for folks diagnosed with cancer to receive COVID-19 vaccines because this is a vulnerable population, but there is no evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 vaccine in any way causes cancer," Chou said in an email.

The National Cancer Institute also states on its website there is no evidence COVID-19 vaccines are linked to cancer.

New cancer cases in the U.S. are expected to exceed 2 million for the first time in 2024, the American Cancer Society reported in January. But there is no indication that COVID-19 vaccines are associated with the uptick.

"This trend is largely affected by the aging and growth of the population and by a rise in diagnoses of six of the 10 most common cancers – breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, kidney and melanoma," the organization said on its website.

People are increasingly being diagnosed in middle age and are likelier to survive longer – the cancer death rate dropped 33% from 1991 through 2021. Still, experts say that obesity and rising rates of colorectal cancer among young adults are concerning trends, USA TODAY reported.

USA TODAY has debunked numerous false claims involving COVID-19 vaccines, including claims that the U.S. government reported a surge in cancer among Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an increase in AIDS-associated diseases and cancers, and that Moderna admitted mRNA vaccines cause "turbo-cancer."

The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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