Cancer is Affecting More Young People, and Big Pharma's Treatments are Making It Worse

by Dr. Joseph Mercola / January 25, 2026

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong sits with Tucker Carlson to discuss How You’re Being Lied to about Cancer, How It’s Caused, and How To Stop It on YouTube:

Why Are Cancer Rates Rising in Young People

Story at-a-glance

• In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong discusses rising cancer rates while emphasizing shifts toward younger patients

• Soon-Shiong explains COVID-19’s spike protein attaches to ACE2 receptors throughout the body, causing persistent inflammation that may contribute to various health issues, including cancer

• Soon-Shiong criticizes Big Pharma’s influence over regulatory processes, arguing this creates barriers for innovative treatments while favoring incremental changes to existing profitable drugs

• Natural killer cells require adequate sleep, sunlight exposure, and whole foods to function optimally, forming your body’s frontline defense against cancer cells

• Boosting your immune system is key in fighting against cancer. In addition to optimizing sleep, minimizing seed oil intake and optimizing your vitamin D levels are important strategies

Why are cancer rates still increasing despite advances in medical technology and increased awareness of risk factors? This topic was deeply explored in an episode of Tucker Carlson’s podcast, featured above. In this interview, Carlson directed this eye-opening inquiry to his guest, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a surgeon and a prominent businessman who also owns the Los Angeles Times.¹

Setting the stage for the rest of the interview, Carlson noted that massive campaigns about the dangers of smoking should have helped cancer rates drop. However, this wasn’t the case.

Soon-Shiong answers by focusing on the age of the people getting sick. He says the troubling part isn’t only the increasing rates, but a population shift toward younger patients. All this and more were discussed in the interview. I encourage you to listen to the entire conversation, as it reveals insights that your doctor won’t tell you, including Big Pharma’s machinations on oncology treatment.

Could COVID-19 Contribute to Rising Cancer Rates?

Carlson raises a question many people already wonder about but rarely discussed openly: He says there is widespread public speculation about whether the COVID-19 infection or mRNA shots relate to rising cancer rates, and he asks Soon-Shiong if there is a connection.

Soon-Shiong answers by placing COVID into a broader historical pattern. He says that certain viruses have long been linked to cancer, namely hepatitis with liver cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) with cervical cancer, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with Kaposi sarcoma. The said viruses share key traits — they persist in the body, drive ongoing inflammation, and interfere with the body’s natural tumor-control systems. He explains that COVID-19 fits this same pattern more closely than most people realize.

•Why COVID-19 affects so many different organs — According to his analysis, the spike protein attaches wherever ACE2 receptors exist, which include blood vessels throughout your body. Soon-Shiong connects this to symptoms people report after getting the infection or the shot, including brain fog, gut problems, pancreatic issues, and heart trouble.

•The most serious concern is persistence — Research groups, including ones at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have shown that parts of the virus remain in the body long after the initial illness, and that key immune defenders can go inactive.

When Carlson points out that billions of people were exposed, Soon-Shiong calls the situation “frightening” and says clearing the virus and stopping long-term inflammation is essential. He says persistence can last three to four years, and notes that chronic inflammation often causes no obvious symptoms, citing roughly 15 million Americans living with long COVID.

•Why Soon-Shiong never got infected — When asked if he ever got COVID-19, Soon-Shiong said that he didn’t. He credits this protection to a strong internal defense response rather than luck or isolation. Based on his own testing, his body already had a type of immune memory that recognized a core part of the virus. He says this response allowed the virus to clear quickly instead of settling in.

•Soon-Shiong took COVID-19 seriously before most people did — In early 2020, he had a conversation with California Governor Gavin Newsom, saying that COVID-19 was not just a respiratory illness but something far more dangerous. He says he shut down his organization and redirected everything toward COVID-19 research, treating it as a once-in-a-generation threat that demanded full focus.

•A core belief about protection — Clearing SARS-CoV-2 requires more than antibodies. Soon-Shiong says the only way to get better is through deeper immune optimization, and he criticizes the antibody-only mindset.

When Science Meets Strong Resistance

After discussing COVID-19, Carlson shifts the topic to the powers that be. Soon-Shiong notes that his work faced resistance from Big Pharma and the government, and that certain ideas were blocked not because they failed, but because they challenged accepted strategies.

Carlson also chimes in about public messaging, especially around COVID-19 mandates. He says people were told the shots would prevent transmission, and that claim shaped health policy and social pressure. Soon-Shiong responds saying that promise was not just wrong but also “knowingly untrue,” and he presents that statement as a turning point in the public eroding trust on institutions.

•Claims of direct interference — Soon-Shiong says he was offered a government role, declined it, and later learned of internal emails meant to block him from leadership at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also says efforts to test his product as a booster were stopped without clear explanation, and that access to key lab materials was restricted.

•When oversight and money collide — The conversation turns to how drugs and treatments are reviewed in the United States. Specifically, Carlson asks why the same companies that sell drugs also fund the people who review them, leading the system to become biased.

Soon-Shiong agrees with Carlson’s concern and pushes it further. He says the problem worsens when this structure blocks new ideas from smaller companies. In his view, we have a system that favors familiar products and familiar players, while outsiders with different approaches struggle to get heard.

•An insight into the regulatory process — Large drug companies pay major “user fees” to regulators, and that money helps cover the salaries of reviewers. Soon-Shiong argues this setup rewards small tweaks to existing drugs rather than real breakthroughs, because safe, familiar changes move faster and protect existing revenue. For smaller biotech groups, he says, the same system creates delays and barriers that slow progress.

•Medical research in America is being left behind — Soon-Shiong warns that China is moving faster in biomedical innovation and says companies like AstraZeneca are investing there specifically “for innovation.” He calls for a serious revamp of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with reviewers trained in modern science and open to new approaches. He frames this shift as a chance for a true reset — a period where patient outcomes matter more than profit.

Simple Habits That Strengthen Your Immune Defense

Carlson and Soon-Shiong’s discussion then shifts into a more practical line of thinking, specifically how you can boost your immune system. With everything that’s going on, Soon-Shiong explains that everyday actions, rather than complex treatments, have a bigger impact on your health.

•The central role of your immune system against cancer — Soon-Shiong centers his response on a group of immune defenders he says are often ignored, such as NK cells, which are ancient parts of your immune system yet were only recognized by modern medicine in the 1970s. He describes them as a frontline defense that responds quickly when your body senses trouble, and he says supporting their activity matters more than most people realize.

•Why proper sleep is a vital foundation of immunity — Soon-Shiong explains that your NK cells recharge when you sleep, and without enough rest, that renewal never fully happens. He then talks about light exposure, explaining that certain types of light, including red light, stimulate immune activity. He ties this to why illness and low mood rise in winter, when people spend less time outdoors.

•Diet is the next pillar — Whole foods support your immune system, while toxins and additives in ultraprocessed foods push your body toward constant stress.

Soon-Shiong also emphasizes gut health, explaining that signals from your gut bacteria influence whether your immune system stays alert or becomes suppressed. To drive the point home, he shares the story of ulcers once being blamed on stress until H. pylori was identified, using it as an example of how rigid thinking delays real understanding.

The Part of Cancer Care Most Oncologists Miss

Soon-Shiong also challenges what doctors typically focus on when treating cancer. He suggests a simple thought experiment: Call a group of oncologists or primary care doctors and ask what they watch closely in a standard blood test. His point is not to shame doctors, but to show how habits shape treatment choices.

•Doctors are looking at the wrong things — Most clinicians zero in on anemia, platelets, and neutrophils, then prescribe drugs or transfusions to fix those numbers. Soon-Shiong argues that while these steps support the body during treatment, they do not cure cancer. He claims the cells that actually eliminate cancer are barely discussed on everyday oncology visits, even though they appear in the same blood test under a broad label that gets little attention.

•Many standard cancer treatments weaken the very defenses needed to prevent relapse — Chemotherapy, radiation, steroids, and even newer immune drugs suppress or damage key cancer-fighting cells, creating a “win the battle, lose the war” pattern. In Soon-Shiong’s view, this explains why tumors often return after an initial response.

Soon-Shiong likens the fight against cancer to a moving target, not a one-step fix. He says the practical challenge is like a chess game, where you expose what’s hiding, boost the cells that attack, and lower the forces that shut those attacks down at the right times. He also takes a shot at the way modern medicine is organized, claiming key fields are siloed and don’t talk to each other, which he says leads to missed connections and weaker strategy.

•Soon-Shiong’s own strategy — When Carlson asks what Soon-Shiong would do if diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, he outlines his personal approach. He says the goal is to expose hidden cancer cells without wiping out your defenses, activate and train your body’s killers at the same time, and shut down forces that block them.

He emphasizes outpatient care and less suffering, and he describes a future where a patient’s own blood cells are expanded, stored, and reused, comparing it to an “American Red Cross of cancer.”

Strategies to Boost Your Immune System

Based on Carlson and Soon-Shiong’s conversation, it’s clear that the immune system plays a central role in your body’s ability to defend against cancer. While Soon-Shiong makes great points, they weren’t discussed in-depth. That said, here are additional strategies that strengthen your immune function further:

1.Minimize seed oil intake — Not just because it’s inflammatory, but because of what it does to one of the most vital parts of your cells: cardiolipin. This specialized fat lives in your mitochondria and plays a key role in keeping those energy producers functioning properly. Cardiolipin stabilizes mitochondrial membranes, supports efficient energy production, and helps regulate mitophagy — the cleanup and recycling of damaged mitochondria.

But cardiolipin is vulnerable to oxidation. And linoleic acid (LA), a highly unstable omega-6 fat found in soybean, corn, cottonseed, and safflower oils, is especially prone to oxidative damage. When you eat too much LA, it gets incorporated into your cardiolipin, making your mitochondria fragile and dysfunctional. That means less energy, more inflammation, and faster aging at the cellular level.

Aim to keep your daily LA intake under 5 grams. If you can get it below 2 grams, you’re giving your mitochondria a serious upgrade. The Mercola Health Coach app, which will be available soon, includes a feature called the Seed Oil Sleuth. It makes tracking your LA intake easy — calculating it down to a tenth of a gram. For now, you can use food labels and trusted databases, but the app will streamline the process once it launches.

2.Minimize exposure to harmful chemicals — If you’re constantly microwaving your food in plastic, touching printed receipts, or working a job that exposes you to toxic chemicals, immune function becomes disrupted. That’s because these chemicals enter your bloodstream, so make sure to protect yourself properly. For in-depth tips, read “Insecticide Exposure Could Impair Mental Function in Older Adults.”

3.Spend time outdoors and optimize your sleep habits — If your job has you staying up late while being glued to screens the whole day, your immune system hasn’t been properly recharging and working.

Just like your everyday routines, your immune system also has a body clock, which resets when exposed to natural light. Also, try sleeping at the same time each night in a cool, completely dark room. Even missing an hour or two of sleep can already affect your defenses.

4.Don’t get any more COVID-19 boosters — You need to end further assault on your health. If you’ve already developed an adverse event due to these shots, the next section has some more strategies to help you recover.

Why This Interview Changed My Approach to Aging

This may be the most important interview I’ve ever had the opportunity to review. When I first heard Soon-Shiong, in early 2025, explain that oncologists routinely ignore Natural Killer cells — the very cells that eliminate threats — while standard treatments actively destroy them, everything clicked into place.

The foundation of aging isn’t any single disease. It’s immune decline. When your NK cells stop functioning optimally, senescent “zombie cells” accumulate, chronic inflammation rises, and tissue function deteriorates.

Solve that, and you address aging at its root. This insight consumed my research last year, and the result is what I call the NK Reset Formula — a patented, surface-engineered nanoliposome system designed to support NK cell function through targeted delivery.

The Key Difference: Quantity vs. Quality

Soon-Shiong’s approach through ImmunityBio focuses on increasing the number of NK cells. His FDA-approved drug Anktiva (N-803) is an IL-15 superagonist that rescues and proliferates NK cells in cancer patients. It’s a pharmaceutical intervention requiring hospital administration, and cell-based cancer immunotherapies typically cost $300,000 to $500,000 or more per patient — far beyond what most people can afford.

My approach is fundamentally different: Instead of adding more cells, I focused on improving the quality of the NK cells you already have. Here’s the problem — a healthy NK cell might eliminate 5 to 10 target cells before running out of metabolic capacity. After that, it enters functional exhaustion, essentially dying after a few hours of activity. Most of your NK cells never reach their full potential.

The NK Reset Formula uses surface-engineered nanoliposomes to deliver metabolic support directly to NK cells at the moment they need it most — when they’re engaging targets. The payload includes mitochondrial enhancers (PQQ, urolithin A, niacinamide) and cellular support compounds (quercetin, fisetin, curcumin, resveratrol), all with GRAS status.

The theoretical result: Instead of exhausting after 5 to 10 eliminations, each NK cell could theoretically continue functioning through what would normally be many generations of conventional NK cell lifespans. The studies still need to be done, but the mechanism is sound.

Supporting Your Body’s Natural Senescent Cell Clearance

Your body already has a system for eliminating senescent cells: NK cell surveillance. The problem is this system weakens with age, and most interventions aimed at senescent cells ignore the immune component entirely.

Small-molecule senolytics may trigger senescent cell death, but without adequate NK cell function, the debris causes secondary inflammation. The NK Reset Formula takes a different approach — supporting the immune cells responsible for natural senescent cell elimination, rather than trying to bypass them. This isn’t treating a disease. It’s maintaining the surveillance system your body uses to keep itself clean.

I expect the NK Reset Formula to be available by summer 2026, at a price point of a few hundred dollars — accessible to virtually anyone who wants to support their immune function and healthy aging. Compare that to cell-based immunotherapies costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, requiring hospital stays and intensive medical supervision.

The NK Reset Formula is targeted nutritional support you can take at home, and it’s comprehensively protected by patent, representing a fundamentally new approach to supporting immune function as we age.

Additional Tips for COVID-Related Side Effects

In closing, if you or a loved one is suffering from the effects of long COVID or getting the shot, the following strategies can help:

•Protocols that put recovery at the center — I recommend you go over the I-RECOVER program by the Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), formerly known as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). It contains in-depth instructions about treating long COVID² and post-vaccine injuries.³

•Minimize electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure — Research shows that everyday EMF sources, such as your Wi-Fi router “can disturb the homeostasis of free radicals leading to dysfunctions such as the ‘cellular stress response.’”⁴ For an extensive list of EMF reduction techniques, read “10 Studies Detail Health Risks of 5G.”

•Optimize your vitamin D levels — Research shows that vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increased risk of cancer.⁵ In a previous article, I also showed how vitamin D helps prevent respiratory infections, which includes COVID-19.

I recommend that you increase your vitamin D levels to a range between 60 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) for optimal health. The best way to achieve this is through sun exposure; however, it would be wise to do it properly, especially if you’ve been eating a diet high in seed oils.

When sunlight hits your skin, LA oxidizes, leading to inflammation and skin damage. To avoid this, avoid high-intensity sun exposure (mid-day sun) until you’ve lowered your LA intake for six months or more. For a deeper explanation regarding this complex interplay, read “The Fast-Track Path to Clearing Vegetable Oils from Your Skin.”

Frequently Asked Questions About Rising Cancer Rates and the Role of Your Immune System

Q: Why are cancer rates rising even though smoking rates are dropping?

A: According to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the biggest concern isn’t just higher cancer rates, but a shift toward younger people getting cancer, which traditional explanations don’t fully address.

Q: Is there a link between COVID-19 and rising cancer rates?

A: Soon-Shiong says COVID follows patterns seen in other cancer-linked viruses, including long-term persistence in the body, chronic inflammation, and weakened immune control that normally suppresses tumors.

Q: Why does COVID-19 affect so many different parts of the body?

A: He explains that the virus interacts with receptors found throughout blood vessels and organs, which helps explain lingering symptoms like brain fog, gut issues, heart problems, and pancreas-related concerns.

Q: Why does Dr. Soon-Shiong believe the immune system is overlooked in cancer care?

A: He argues doctors focus on blood markers that support treatment side effects, while often ignoring immune cells that actually destroy cancer, which explains frequent relapse after standard therapies.

Q: What everyday habits can strengthen immune defenses against cancer?

A: Proper sleep, regular sunlight exposure, whole foods, and reducing toxin exposure are daily habits that can strongly support immune strength and long-term health.

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