Japan is neither declaring a public health emergency due to massive increases in cancer mortality rates, nor has a study proven that the mRNA vaccination against Covid-19 is the trigger for such an increase.
It is a claim that has been circulating again and again in the conspiracy myth scene for several years: vaccinations against the Covid-19 virus, especially the mRNA variant, trigger “turbo cancer”. Sometimes the number of cancer cases is said to have increased, sometimes the proportion of sufferers who die from cancer.
“Emergency” is fictional
Now a Japanese study supposedly proves such a connection. It is said to have prompted the country’s government to declare a health emergency. These claims are false in several ways: The Japanese government has never declared a health emergency due to cancer cases.
In addition, not even the author of the Japanese study mentioned makes the claim that the mRNA vaccination causes “turbo cancer” – an alleged phenomenon that is not scientifically defined and is not used by reputable researchers.
Study does not confirm own title
According to the study “Increased age-adjusted cancer mortality after the third mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccine dose during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan” led by pediatrician Miki Gibo, significantly increased mortality rates were observed “after mass vaccination with the third dose” in 2022.
However, the study does not fulfill what its title promises: in fact, the number of cancer deaths remained practically stable. While mortality decreased for other types of cancer, it increased for ovarian cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer, lip, oral, pharyngeal and pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer.
Other factors hidden
The authors particularly point out the higher death rate from breast cancer. However, they admit that the number was back to pre-pandemic levels after a significant decline in the first few years of the pandemic. Nevertheless, they cite the number as evidence to support their thesis.
At the request of the German Cancer Society, ARD fact finder indicates that cancer screenings have been suspended or postponed over the course of the pandemic. The long-term consequences of delayed or suspended examinations cannot currently be quantified, as the figures on mortality or the diagnosis of advanced diseases only appeared in the cancer registers much later.
Problematic method
The study also has several methodological problems: There is no control group, as is actually necessary for medical examinations. Furthermore, it is not based on our own surveys, but on publicly available statistics, which did not contain any data on the vaccination status of the deceased.
This alone should prohibit proving a causal relationship – especially in Japan, where only around two thirds of the population has been vaccinated three times and vaccines other than the mRNA vaccine were used.
Theses are partly unfounded
Nevertheless, the authors claim that the increase in mortality rates is more likely to be due to the mRNA vaccination than to the COVID-19 infection itself, the suspension of preventive examinations or poorer care for cancer patients due to the lockdown – but without really giving any reasons for this. However, they admit: “Further analytical statistical studies based on vaccination status are required.”
So far, no increasing mortality from certain types of cancer has been observed in Germany. There is no evidence of this, explained Sibylle Kohlstädt from the German Cancer Research Center ARD fact finder.