[OC] Recent graduates from Roanoke College, Virginia have been dying from cancer at a rate 15 times higher than the national average. Their rate of cancer diagnosis is 5 times higher than the national average.
[OC] Recent graduates from Roanoke College, Virginia have been dying from cancer at a rate 15 times higher than the national average. Their rate of cancer diagnosis is 5 times higher than the national average.
Data source (Clara Molot, 2025): [“The scientific community’s definition of ‘cancer clusters’ (an unusually high number of cases of the same kind of cancer in the same geographic area during the same period of time) hindered the Virginia Department of Health (V.D.H.) from studying Roanoke’s uptick in cancer cases, since the types of cancer and locations of diagnosis there varied extensively […] Since ‘the transition’ to Donald Trump’s second presidency began […] At the C.D.C., several of the employees who had been tasked with ensuring cancer clusters were investigated have been fired”](https://archive.is/Reez3)
See also for further data (Clara Molot, 2024): [“Baldwin decided to reach out to the V.D.H. in March of 2021 requesting a cancer-cluster investigation. In August, the V.D.H. declined her request. ‘Unfortunately your inquiry would not qualify as a true cancer cluster,’ the response read […] In December of 2022, Kelsey Palmer died at the age of 29. She had beaten the Wilms’ tumor, but the chemotherapy had given her leukemia. Palmer’s death re-ignited Baldwin’s search for answers. The Virginia Department of Health wouldn’t do anything about this, she thought. So what else can we do? Baldwin reached out to local lawyers. ‘Nobody got back to us,’ she says.”](https://archive.is/6qwVG)
Data tool: Visme
Sibula97 on
Is this a repost? I think I just saw the same graph…
88yj on
This is interesting but it’s not beautiful data. I hate how this sub has just become another dumping ground for people to post the same graph in a dozen different subs. I’m sorry but you’re line graph with a black and white background doesn’t cut it
Initial-Progress-763 on
Salem, VA isn’t coal country, for one. Roanoke College is not in Roanoke, for two. And for three, this story’s been passed along for years without any one of note backing the data. It’s frankly a little weird to see this pop up in a data sub.
jesssoul on
New college selection criteria unlocked:”rates of cancer after graduation” vs “rates of employment after graduation”
slouchingtoepiphany on
It’s an interesting subject. Is there any chance that part of the increase can be accounted for by changes in population size? Alternatively, what would a similar graph look like if rates of new cancers was reported instead?
![[OC] Recent graduates from Roanoke College, Virginia have been dying from cancer at a rate 15 times higher than the national average. Their rate of cancer diagnosis is 5 times higher than the national average.](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/eq05aea83f4g1-1024x1024.png "[OC] Recent graduates from Roanoke College, Virginia have been dying from cancer at a rate 15 times higher than the national average. Their rate of cancer diagnosis is 5 times higher than the national average.")
6 Comments
Part 2 of the cancer clusters series.
Data source (Clara Molot, 2025): [“The scientific community’s definition of ‘cancer clusters’ (an unusually high number of cases of the same kind of cancer in the same geographic area during the same period of time) hindered the Virginia Department of Health (V.D.H.) from studying Roanoke’s uptick in cancer cases, since the types of cancer and locations of diagnosis there varied extensively […] Since ‘the transition’ to Donald Trump’s second presidency began […] At the C.D.C., several of the employees who had been tasked with ensuring cancer clusters were investigated have been fired”](https://archive.is/Reez3)
See also for further data (Clara Molot, 2024): [“Baldwin decided to reach out to the V.D.H. in March of 2021 requesting a cancer-cluster investigation. In August, the V.D.H. declined her request. ‘Unfortunately your inquiry would not qualify as a true cancer cluster,’ the response read […] In December of 2022, Kelsey Palmer died at the age of 29. She had beaten the Wilms’ tumor, but the chemotherapy had given her leukemia. Palmer’s death re-ignited Baldwin’s search for answers. The Virginia Department of Health wouldn’t do anything about this, she thought. So what else can we do? Baldwin reached out to local lawyers. ‘Nobody got back to us,’ she says.”](https://archive.is/6qwVG)
Data tool: Visme
Is this a repost? I think I just saw the same graph…
This is interesting but it’s not beautiful data. I hate how this sub has just become another dumping ground for people to post the same graph in a dozen different subs. I’m sorry but you’re line graph with a black and white background doesn’t cut it
Salem, VA isn’t coal country, for one. Roanoke College is not in Roanoke, for two. And for three, this story’s been passed along for years without any one of note backing the data. It’s frankly a little weird to see this pop up in a data sub.
New college selection criteria unlocked:”rates of cancer after graduation” vs “rates of employment after graduation”
It’s an interesting subject. Is there any chance that part of the increase can be accounted for by changes in population size? Alternatively, what would a similar graph look like if rates of new cancers was reported instead?