February 13, 2026

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Good morning. Angus Chen, STAT's cancer reporter, here.

The actor James Van Der Beek died this week from colorectal cancer at the age of 48. Whenever a public figure dies from or gets diagnosed with cancer, it tends to create a moment that highlights a particular challenge in oncology. In this case, that's the rise of early-onset cancer.

Van Der Beek initially opened about his cancer shortly after his diagnosis in 2024, when he spoke with People magazine about his experience and his desire to raise awareness of the early-onset cancer issue. There's been a lot of activity in cancer research to understand why this phenomenon is happening, and not yet a lot of answers. Some papers have put forward hypotheses including global changes in diet, new environmental exposures from certain chemicals or toxins, childhood antibiotics use, and more.

As of yet, scientists do not have a consensus on what is driving the rise of early-onset cancer. As Van Der Beek's tragic case demonstrates, discovering that cause and finding a way to intervene is one of the biggest and most urgent challenges of the cancer research community today.

On a completely separate note: Julie Letai, US Olympic speedskater and NCI director Tony Letai's daughter, unfortunately did not advance to the short track speedskating semifinals after a fall this week in the quarterfinals. Letai overcame recent injuries in order to compete in this year's winter Olympics. Reports from Milan don't mention if she's injured from her fall, but hopefully she's in good health!

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