Eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains may increase chance of early onset lung cancer

https://news.keckmedicine.org/eating-fruits-vegetables-and-whole-grains-may-increase-chance-of-early-onset-lung-cancer/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8nmsNYPQKJXVAWu9gIMrx535tdrnvkNA8YXGuEfmi6-QM41i3b2uIrY-O8RYow6TkdhyQzQxCi92iPGEbvXdjmi7EQkQ&_hsmi=414424977&utm_content=414424977&utm_source=hs_email A controversial cancer study abstract comes to AACR I had to read the headline twice when I saw the press release: "Eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains may increase the chance of early onset lung cancer," according to new research from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center that will be presented tomorrow at the annual American Association for Cancer Research meeting. The claim comes from a survey study of 187 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer by age 50, most of whom had never smoked. The authors speculated that pesticides might be a contributing factor. But outside experts eviscerated the research methods. Peter Shields, a medical oncologist at Ohio State University, noted in a statement that experts have long known leanness to be a risk factor for lung cancer, which could explain the authors’ findings. “This is only a conference abstract, but the flaws of the study and its conclusions are quite striking,” Baptiste Leurent, a medical statistics professor at University College London said in a comment. “Jumping to the conclusion that [healthier eating] could cause lung cancer is quite a stretch, let alone implicating pesticides.” There’s a few days of the conference left. For the latest, strongest reporting on what’s going on there, sign up for STAT’s AACR in 30 Seconds newsletter. And don't miss his special report on KRAS inhibitors from yesterday. https://www.statnews.com/2026/04/19/daraxonrasib-pancreatic-cancer-kras-revolution-medicines-patient-story/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_n6zjIRrEVNHBUPx8XywMTa_m2bywaG3kQR2RKaIb3tTUaEsd0kgHgDUSq6Jw3GHzxxS3IgBB95MVpepXSvF6OrdKKLg&_hsmi=414424977&utm_content=414424977&utm_source=hs_email