State of Cancer: Iowa is No. 2 in new cancer cases. Lawmakers, doctors, cancer survivors seek answers
Several bills still alive at the statehouse are tied to the state's high rate of new incidences of cancer.
The issue even came up in Gov. Kim Reynolds' Condition of the State address.
"Every case of cancer is a tragedy," she said in January. "And I'm concerned by the data showing that these tragedies disproportionately affect Iowans."
Reynolds called for $1 million to start researching the reasons why cancer rates are rising in Iowa.
Lisa Bistline of Runnells would like to know. She's one of the 171,535 Iowans living with cancer, according to the 2025 Cancer in Iowa report out today.
Her diagnosis came after Christmas in 2019: Stage 4 lung cancer.
"No one wants to hear those words," she said. "I just sat there and said,' I have lung cancer? I have lung cancer?'"
The diagnosis shocked Bistline. She had no known risk factors. She wasn't a smoker. Her family or parents hadn't smoked. Radon, a known factor in Iowa, wasn't present in her home or her childhood home. There was no family history of the disease.
"When I said, 'What is the cause of my cancer, there was no answer,'" she said.
Five years later, Bistline still fights. She found out she has the ALK gene. "It is still in my body; it's just being contained by medication," she said.
The new Iowa Cancer report released today shows that 21,200 new cases of cancer are expected in Iowa, a 0.7% increase from the report in 2024.
The top three types: breast, prostate and lung cancer.
Reynolds' husband is one of those fighting lung cancer, a personal note she mentioned back in her January speech. "According to the Iowa Cancer Registry, we're in the top five states for binge drinking. We're also among the top for alcohol-related cancers," she said.
"That's the what of the problem. "The why and the how are when things get tricky."
Des Moines-based oncologist Dr. Richard Deming points to two other culprits.
"The two things about Iowa that really stand out to me as being different than other states is radon and ag chemicals," he said.
The American Lung Association says radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, is the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
Iowa has the largest percentage of homes at or above the EPA's action level of 4 piocuries per liter of air, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
"As a radiation oncologist who studied radiation biology, it's not going to be shocking to learn that radon might also increase the risk of other types of cancers," he said.
Farm chemicals are also throughout Iowa. USDA reports in 2023 that farmland made up 30 million acres in Iowa.
Deming said the chemicals are known to run into rivers and potentially into the water supply. Farmers aren't the only ones who might be exposed, he said.
Bistline, who hopes to keep seeing her grandchildren grow up, would like to see funding for research.
"I don't want my children or my grandchildren to go through this," she said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have yet to take up an appropriation for that research funding at the Statehouse this session.
There are at least six bills — Senate File 394, House File 82, House File 377, House File 211, House File 364, and Senate File 43 — including some legislation that would protect Iowa residents, including homeowners and tenants from high levels of radon.
Also, the early steps for putting together a group of epidemiologists to study the causes of Iowa's cancer rate — Reynolds' proposal — awaits an appropriation, said Dr. Robert Kruse of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. There is a discussion on what data could be helpful at this point.
Deming said the governor's $1 million for research is a good first step.
"It's probably going to take more than that," he said.
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