Henry County can’t afford cancer research cuts

Iowa is in the middle of a cancer crisis, and Henry County is no exception. Each year, our county sees about 129 new cancer diagnoses and 45 cancer deaths. For a community our size, that’s far too many neighbors, friends, and family members.

Some of the numbers are especially troubling. Uterine cancer rates in Henry County are nearly double the Iowa and U.S. averages, a shocking outlier that demands answers. Lung cancer incidence here is also higher than the national average, and with Iowa’s distinction as having the highest indoor radon levels in the country, we are living with invisible risks in our homes as well as on our farms.

And while we may not yet have all the answers, we know that our community is surrounded by agricultural chemicals applied on tens of thousands of acres of corn and soybeans every year. Research is already raising red flags about the links between pesticide exposure and hormonally driven cancers like uterine cancer. It would be reckless to look the other way when so many local families are bearing the consequences.

At the very moment when we need more science, more prevention, and more vigilance, federal leaders have cut cancer research dollars flowing into Iowa. Grants that supported breast and head-and-neck cancer studies, as well as a network that brought rural patients into clinical trials, have been canceled. Even training programs for medical students, our future doctors, and researchers, have been stripped of funding. These aren’t abstract numbers on a budget line. They’re lifelines cut short.

As a three-time cancer survivor, I know firsthand what research means. Every treatment and every test that kept me alive exists because someone, somewhere, fought for funding. Without it, my story could have ended very differently.

Henry County already faces higher cancer risks than most of the nation. Cutting research and prevention resources now is not just shortsighted, it’s cruel. We need our leaders to restore funding, support cancer registries and prevention programs, and invest in understanding why communities like ours are carrying such a heavy burden.

Because here in Mount Pleasant and across Henry County, cancer is not a statistic. It’s us. It’s our neighbors. It’s our future unless we act now.

Kasey Conrad, Mt. Pleasant