Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Across the Cancer Continuum: Implications for Oncology.

Abstract

Climate change is here and having a major impact on health, including cancer. Climate change is altering environmental exposures and modifying the frequency, intensity, and behavior of extreme weather events, introducing new challenges to cancer control and oncology. Climate-driven events, such as wildfires, can increase exposure to pollutants that influence cancer risk and mortality. Additionally, climate-driven extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, can disrupt health care services essential for quality cancer care. Therefore, climate change is increasingly recognized as a determinant of cancer risk and outcomes. Through its influence on environmental and occupational exposures, social conditions, and health system functioning, climate change is an important part of the exposome, which encompasses all environmental exposures that influence human health. As leaders in cancer health care, oncologists are uniquely positioned to characterize the downstream consequences of climate change on cancer care and outcomes and act on modifiable factors to improve patient care and health care system resilience.