Iowa Republican Zach Lahn outlined a vision for working with biotechnology companies on preventing and early detection of cancer in his state, a key part of his Make America Healthy Again platform in the hotly contested governor’s race in November.
Lahn, whose gubernatorial campaign has focused on Iowa’s growing cancer crisis, moderated a panel on the future of cancer treatment on Tuesday for the MAHA Summit, hosted by the MAHA Center at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.
Lahn, who is competing against Democratic candidate Rob Sand, stressed the need for policymakers at the state level to leverage biotechnology not only for preventing cancer but also for early detection to maximize the efficiency of treatment.
“We need to work on prevention, there’s no doubt about it,” Lahn said. “But a lot of these people have had the environmental exposures for decades and decades that are putting them at the highest amount of risk. And so pulling a large lever by working with technologies like this in a state, I think, would be a huge advantage to the people there to create a model of how other states can do it.”
The University of Iowa estimated in March that there will be 21,700 new cancer diagnoses in the Hawkeye State this year and 6,400 new cancer deaths. Nearly 6% of the population of Iowa has either had cancer or is currently battling some form of the disease.
Several environmental factors contribute to Iowa’s cancer rates. Nearly 72% of homes in the state exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s safe level of radon, a radioactive gas that is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer for nonsmokers.
Iowa’s wastewater treatment companies also struggle with keeping nitrate levels in drinking water below EPA standards, in part due to pollution from fertilizer and pesticide runoff.
Lahn recounted during the panel how his father battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the type of cancer associated with the common agricultural pesticide glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer RoundUp.
When referencing his father’s care, Lahn said he was astounded that the traditional protocol for cancer treatment is to endure harsh therapies and “hope it doesn’t come back, and if it does come back, do it again with no change to lifestyle, diet, you know those things that we know have a tremendous impact.”
Lahn spoke with Josh Ofman, CEO of GRAIL, a blood test that screens for more than 50 types of cancer by detecting tumor DNA fragments in the bloodstream. Jonathan Swerdlin of Function Health, a lab-testing company, and supplement maker Dr. Eric Berg were also on the panel.
Ofman said he believes it is possible to “eradicate late-stage cancer, metastatic disease in our lifetimes” if it is possible to scale early cancer detection and preventive screenings for risk factors, such as insulin resistance.
“Cancer can really be the case study for this transition from a break-it-and-fit healthcare system to one where we can do prediction, prevention, and early detection,” Ofman said.
Polling has Sand 6.3 percentage points ahead of Lahn in the race, according to an average of recent polls by RealClearPolling. The most recent Marist Poll from late last week has Sand winning over Lahn by 12 percentage points.
Lahn, who was endorsed early in the campaign season by the political action committee MAHA Action, was not present on Monday at an Oval Office event with President Donald Trump announcing a new steel plant in Lee County in southeast Iowa. Other Republicans running for office, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), were in attendance on Monday.
ZACH LAHN SKIPS TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW IOWA STEEL PROJECT TO FUNDRAISE
Republicans across Iowa have broken with Trump on several bread-and-butter issues that affect the cost of living in the state for farmers, including calling for an end to the war in Iran and implementing a ban on diesel exports.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed for the Washington Examiner that Lahn was at a fundraising event and could not travel to Washington in time for the White House announcement.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
