January 16, 2026 — Oakland, Calif: In December 2025, the Childhood Cancer & Environment Program hosted Michael Scheurer, PhD, MPH, FACE, to discuss the impacts of the environment on pediatric cancer risk and survivorship. Dr. Scheurer is Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, Co-Director of the Research and Epidemiology for Adolescent and Child Health (REACH) Center, and epidemiologist with the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Schuerer’s talk focused on why we should be interested in environmental risk factors for pediatric cancers.
There has been an overall increase of 45% in the number of childhood cancer cases since the 1970s. Only 10 to 12 percent of childhood cancers are due to a known inherited pathogenetic variant (meaning that they are caused by a genetically inherited mutation). What about the causes of the remaining increase in cases of childhood cancer? And why do Latino and Black children have poorer outcomes in addition to having higher rates of childhood cancer?
There is growing concern about how environmental exposures are contributing to this increase in childhood cancer. Dr. Schuerer’s work has focused on how these exposures contribute to this increase in childhood cancer as well as to:
- Poorer treatment outcomes
- Poorer long-term outcomes in childhood cancer survivors as they age into adolescence and adulthood.
“Environmental exposures can influence health in children and cancer survivors.”
-Dr. Michael Scheurer
Dr Schuerer’s team has focused on known causes of cancer as determined by the International Association for Research on Cancer, (IARC)0. IARC designates these 126 known agents as Group 1. These Group 1 agents include:
- ionizing radiation;
- metals;
- organic chemicals, compounds and substances;
- herbicides and pesticides;
- occupational exposures (especially parental exposures for childhood cancer); and
- food and plant-based compounds.
Examples of Group 1 agents
Many of these Group 1 toxicants have not been well-studied in children for several reasons. For example, it’s difficult to estimate exposures during critical periods of development and pediatric cancers are less common and require large, multi-institutional studies.
Dr. Scheurer’s group has used some novel analytic tools to identify biomarkers of exposure and how these exposures vary among different populations. One method is using baby teeth to objectively measure early life uptake of organic and inorganic compounds, including metals. Another strategy used is measuring residential proximity to oil and gas wells of pediatric cancer cases. Dr. Scheurer’s group found that living within 1000 meters (just over half a mile) of an oil or gas well was associated with risk of mortality in cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.84) and hepatoblastoma.
Dr. Scheurer’s work is also concerned with how to improve outcomes of children diagnosed with cancer. For example, air pollution has a negative effect on cancer rates and outcomes, but vegetation density (“green environments”) can reduce PM (particulate matter) 2.5 in air pollution by 20%.* Where you live matters!
Green environments can reduce PM (particulate matter) 2.5 in air pollution by 20%.
*Clark CJ, Haynes D, Lu Z, Sample JM, McGuinn LA, Hoang TT, Lupo PJ, Scheurer ME, Marcotte EL, Williams LA. Ambient Fine Particulate Matter, Residential Greenness, and Childhood Cancer Risk by Trimester of Exposure in Minnesota 2000 to 2014: A Case-Control Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Oct 3;34(10):1730-1739. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-25-0465. PMID: 40668547; PMCID: PMC12377067.
Where do we go from here in our understanding of increasing childhood cancer rates, treatment outcomes and long-term health outcomes? Cancer risk is a complicated result of multiple factors:
- Timing of exposures to toxicants (i.e. preconceptual, prenatal, early childhood)
- Environmental stressors, (i.e. air and water pollution, extreme heat, climate disasters)
- Neighborhood level vulnerability, (i.e. green space, climate and social vulnerability indices,)
- Individual level risk factors (i.e. low SEP/poverty, preterm birth and low birth weight, social support, diet/nutrition)
All of these factors are also mediated by epigenetics, metabolomics and other -omics. There is a lot that needs to be studied in order to better understand how environment affects childhood cancer rates, treatment outcomes and long-term health. Novel strategies for assessing exposures/risk are an important step forward in this effort.
Author: Vicki Leonard, RN, FNP (retired), PhD; UCSF
Dr. Scheurer’s full webinar is available below.
Register for the next webinar to learn more about childhood cancer and the environment here.
About Michael Scheurer, PhD, MPH, FACE
Dr. Schuerer is Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, Co-Director of the Research and Epidemiology for Adolescent and Child Health (REACH) Center, and epidemiologist with the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. His research focuses on identifying environmental and genetic risk factors for pediatric cancer, including childhood brain tumors, and treatment-related and long-term conditions associated with cancer survivorship. He is the current president of the American Society of Preventive Oncology and the immediate past US co-president of the Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium.
Content Reviewed by the PEHSU National Program Office and the Childhood Cancer & the Environment Program