Thread by @1goodtern

This is a massively serious piece of work in Molecular Aspects of Medicine.

A huge wake up call to the world.

🚨 How Covid Infections Might Fuel Lung Cancer

A quick summary thread... 🧵

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

This piece of work should ring alarm bells everywhere.

I don't think there's anything new in it, but it's all there in one place for the first time, published in a prestigious journal.

And if you're thinking, "well, where are all these cancer cases they're warning about, eh?..."

Cancer cases *take time*.

We are sowing a dark harvest with every wave of infection, and some seed will fall on fertile ground.

Before I run through the most serious points, thanks to @RogerGustafsso2 for flagging this up:

Ok.

Key points.

Here's the summary straight from the article itself.

I'll translate it in a mo.

"SARS-CoV-2 can exacerbate outcomes in existing cancer patients and potentially contribute to de novo lung carcinogenesis or accelerate progression via chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, cellular senescence, cell cycle disruption, metabolic reprogramming, and autophagy impairment."

Ok, so this isn't "the covid pandemic that happened five years ago can cause lung cancer".

It's
COVID INFECTIONS NOW

Three ways:

Covid infection can make outcomes worse

Covid infections can add to the causes of new cases

Covid infections can accelerate existing or potential cases

*covid infections*

Now.

All of these mechanisms have been discussed for a while, but often in separate pieces of work and study and research.

Here they are listed together...

So... Obviously, there's the opener.

Reduced access to healthcare may mean you miss diagnoses.

That's kind of a no brainer, and the infectionists use that line to say, "it's the fault of lockdowns".

But that's just malicious and stupid, because...

... the first wave of infections, prior to vaccines, caused a vastly increased risk of lung fibrosis, a kind of scarring and stiffening of the lungs, and *that's one of the primary ways that covid infection increases the risk of lung cancer*.

So if we hadn't taken desperate measures to limit exposure before vaccines were available, the burden would have been *massively higher*.

This is called science and maths and application of common sense.

Let's just work through this list:

chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, cellular senescence, cell cycle disruption, metabolic reprogramming, and autophagy impairment.

But first you're probably thinking, "wait, aren't those contributory risk factors for *all* cancers? Right?"

Yes, you're right.
They are.

Chronic inflammation is like a fire that never goes out. The immune system keeps releasing cytokines, damaging DNA, and pushing cells to divide when they shouldn’t.

Chronic inflammation is a known driver of colon, stomach, oesophageal, liver, pancreatic, and lung cancers, and covid infection increases the risk of chronic inflammation.

Your body does this after Covid infection by hammering lungs and blood vessels with cytokines. Even after symptoms ease, the immune system can simmer away.

Oxidative stress is hard to explain... but it's kind of like rust inside your body.

'Reactive Oxygen Species' (ROS) effectively oxidise the chemicals that make up DNA, proteins, and cell powerhouses.

Covid replication in cells overloads mitochondria and pumps out ROS, way beyond what antioxidants can handle.

That constant DNA damage raises risks for lung, breast, prostate, brain, and skin cancers.

Immune dysregulation...
Normally, your immune system acts like a bouncer, spotting and kicking out dodgy, pre-cancerous cells.

Covid infection throws the bouncers off balance.

T-cell production, use and management gets scrambled. Surveillance drops, and rogue cells slip through.

That gap opens the door to lymphomas, leukaemias, lung, skin, cervical, and liver cancers.

Cellular senescence

Senescent cells are old, stressed cells that stop dividing but won’t die.
Instead, they hang around, spewing toxic 'aging' signals.

Covid infections push cells into this state with stress, DNA hits, and inflammation, especially in the lungs.

Those senescent 'zombie cells' nudge tissues toward lung, liver, pancreatic, and prostate cancers, and worsen breast/colon risks.

Cell cycle disruption & DNA damage response...

Healthy cells have checkpoints in their cycle: pause, repair, and only then divide.
That keeps DNA mistakes from piling up.

Covid's viral proteins hijack those checkpoints, stalling the cycle and breaking DNA repair.

That effect can accumulate.

This kind of instability increases risk for lung, breast, ovarian, brain, and blood cancers.

I know this is tough to read, but stay with me.

Metabolic reprogramming

Cancer cells flip their metabolism into overdrive.
Lots of sugar, lots of building blocks, all geared to growth, nothing geared to regulation.

That's why the chaos of cancer is so harmful.

Covid does the same when hijacking your cells, forcing them into a cancer-like metabolic mode to pump out virus.

That reprogramming is linked to lung, liver, pancreatic, and brain cancers.

Autophagy impairment

Autophagy is like the cell’s housekeeping service.
It clears broken proteins and damaged parts before they cause trouble.

Covid blocks this clean-up system so the cell is full of junk, stress, and faulty machinery.

Autophagy failure is tied to lung, breast, colon, and liver cancers.

And repeat infections will keep adding repeat clutter, so you're going to get extra risk with every extra infection.

So... and this is a massive question... which of these were only relevant *pre-vaccines* or *after first infection* or *in 2020*?

Diagnostic delays...
"A decrease in early-stage (Stage I/II) diagnoses and a corresponding increase in advanced-stage (Stage III/IV) diagnoses during the pandemic…"

This was driven by healthcare disruption during the height of the pandemic, not by reinfections themselves. It’s not a mechanism of cancer, but a collateral effect.

But every wave of infections puts pressure on healthcare.
Missed appointments.
Missed scans.

Patients sick.
Staff sick.

Missed treatments.
Missed opportunities.

"Post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis … may act as a tumor precursor bridge…"

The first severe infection is the biggest trigger for fibrosis. Reinfections might worsen existing scarring, but if someone never had severe pneumonia/fibrosis, that specific pathway is less relevant.

This one is a huge kick in the guts.

I have friends who have fibrosis from their first wave infections.

Just fibrosis on its own is shit, but the increased risks it brings...

😥

But then that's it.

Everything else is relevant for every repeat infection.

And, yes, repeat infections can still cause fibrosis too, it's just the risk isn't nearly as bad now.

But, hey, how many repeat infections are people planning on having?

Reactivation of dormant cancer cells (DCCs)...

👉 Each viral infection can act as a wake-up call to dormant cancer cells. Reinfections keep repeating that risk.

Increased metastatic progression & mortality in survivors...

👉 The studies showed higher death rates in cancer survivors who got COVID.

This risk is renewed with each new infection.

Chronic inflammation and cytokine surges...

👉 Even mild infections cause inflammatory flares.

Repeated bouts of inflammation layer on risk.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress...

👉 Every reinfection pushes mitochondria and antioxidant defences. Cumulative stress builds and builds and builds.

Immune dysregulation and impaired surveillance...

👉 Every reinfection reshuffles immune balance, erodes T-cell responses, and reduces the body’s ability to spot early tumour cells.

Cellular senescence...

👉 Repeated viral stress drives more cells into senescence, adding chronic inflammatory signalling over time...

Cell cycle disruption and DNA damage...

👉 Viral proteins interfering with DNA repair and cell-cycle regulation happen each time cells are infected.

Metabolic reprogramming and autophagy dysregulation...

👉 These hijackings happen with *every infection*, and that cumulative disruption raises cancer-promoting potential.

And on top of all this, these effects work in combination with *other risk factors* like smoking, pollution, genetic predisposition.

These *don’t go away*, and repeated infections stack with them.

Like I said earlier...

Cancer takes time.

We're not in the season of harvest yet.

We're still mostly in the sowing season.

But...

We're mostly in the growing season, I think.

And it really will be a dark harvest.

Maybe we should stop those repeat infections now by cleaning the air?

Maybe we should stop giving kids this every couple of terms?

Maybe we should educate the public properly sensibly methodically on these risks?

Maybe we should have proper testing available, and masking in healthcare and real infection control?

Maybe we should tell people that it's airborne, and that you need to do more than just wash your hands?

Maybe we should be telling people that these risks accumulate with repeat infections.

Maybe we should tell people that every covid infection is bad for you.

I know public health and politicians would have to eat a lot of humble pie... but they must.

This is not the time for ignorance or denial.

We need honest, realistic, sensible action.

And we need it now.

Footnote...

You may have wondered why the article itself concentrates on lung cancer when most of these factors increase the risk of all cancer...

Pulling out a few key bits from the big old article...

"The virus primarily targets the respiratory system, with lung epithelial cells serving as *initial sites of entry and replication*, facilitated by the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor."

So basically, the premise is that because Covid infection hits the lungs first and hardest, that’s where any cancer-promoting effects will be most obvious...

"Studies have shown that ACE2 is often upregulated in lung cancer cells compared to normal lung tissue. This increased expression of the viral entry point may explain the heightened susceptibility of lung cancer patients to SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Lung cancers actually *increase production* of the receptor that covid uses to get in.

That creates a tight link between the virus and lung tumours specifically.

"Post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis, observed in up to one-third of severe cases, may act as a tumor precursor bridge through sustained tissue remodeling, extracellular matrix stiffness, and hypoxia-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition."

Yeah.
I had to look up a couple of those.

But put simply, scarring in the lung after severe infection is already a known risk factor for lung cancer.

That's not only a covid thing.
That's just a thing.

But since covid does it, it's a covid thing.

"Patients diagnosed with lung cancer have faced a substantially higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with an odds ratio (OR) of 7.66… Cancer patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were at nearly twice the risk of dying from cancer compared with controls."

The studies show that lung cancer patients were among the most severely affected cancer groups during the early stages of the pandemic, and onwards, to differing degrees.

But, and please this is really important, remember the early point...

Covid infection can make outcomes worse

Covid infections can add to the causes of new cases

Covid infections can accelerate existing or potential cases

We've probably only seen the *beginnings* of the first and third of these.

Many cancers take five to ten years to develop.

So we might start to see the first crop from the seeds planted in 2020 about now, but that's not very many.

Strangely, I do know first wavers who are now being investigated for lung cancer.

That's just anecdote though, so hold that very lightly.

But *repeat* infections didn't really start to kick in properly until the end of 2021.

And then barrelled through at a breakneck speed for three years.

So the sinister fruit from those infections are all yet to form on the branch.

Like I've said...

Don't catch it.

Don't spread it.

And if you're wondering, "what can I do about this if I've already caught it?"

Well, it's all the same things for any cancer risk...

Don’t smoke.
Stop smoking.

That's still the single strongest modifiable lung cancer driver, and the risk stacks with Covid infections.

Anti-inflammatory diet:
More fruit/veg, fibre, omega-3 fats (fish, nuts, seeds), less ultra-processed food, good antioxidants.

Physical activity.
Get moving.
Stay moving.

Regular exercise dampens chronic inflammation and boosts immune function.

Limit your alcohol intake:

Any drinking fuels oxidative stress, especially in liver and oesophagus.

Minimise your exposure to polluted air.

Use good ventilation/filtration indoors; mask up if exposed to dust, fumes, wildfire smoke, traffic fines, urban pollution.

Fumes.

Keep vaccinations up to date.

Flu, pneumococcal, COVID boosters. Each helps cut the number and severity of infections that spark new inflammation.

If you've got reflux/asthma/bronchitis, treat it properly.

Don’t let low-grade airway irritation become a constant risk factor.

Manage your sleep and stress.

Both strongly affect immune system performance.

(ask me how I know that 🙄😥)

Manage your weight if you can.

And stop catching Covid.

And if you do all that, it won't make you live forever.

It's not a magic bullet.

It's just a boring reduction of risk.

If you want excitement, go serve in a night shelter.

Go visit someone in a prison.

Go on a march to free Palestine.

If you want good health, do some boring stuff.

And then that helps you do the exciting stuff.

Additionally...