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Dr. McCullough, Joe Rogan, and COVID Vaccine Cancer Claims
Research · COVID-19
In September 2021, a 66-year-old man in Belgium went to his doctors with swollen lymph nodes in his neck. The diagnosis was AITL, a rare type of T-cell lymphoma.
Two weeks after a PET scan, and just before his first round of chemo, he got a Pfizer booster in his right arm. Within a few days, the lymph nodes on that side of his neck swelled. A follow-up scan showed the cancer had grown fast.
The patient was Michel Goldman, a Belgian doctor. He and seven colleagues published the case in Frontiers in Medicine in November 2021. They did not blame the booster. They wrote that the shot's possible effect on this kind of lymphoma was "still to be determined."
What Dr. McCullough Told Joe Rogan
Fast-forward to The Joe Rogan Experience. Heart doctor Dr. Peter McCullough told Joe Rogan that the mRNA in COVID shots can interfere with DNA repair. He also said the spike protein can affect p53 and BRCA, two systems that help the body fix damage and guard against cancer.
For support, he pointed to a 2026 paper by Wafik El-Deiry, an oncologist at Brown University. He said the paper pulled together 66 peer-reviewed studies on the topic.
The paper is real and is worth reading closely.
Is there a proven COVID vaccine cancer link? The review Dr. McCullough cited doesn't establish one. Its authors gathered 69 papers, mostly case reports, on cancers that appeared after COVID vaccination or infection, and said the review was not built to estimate risk or prove cause. Reliable cancer rates among vaccinated people have not been established.
What the El-Deiry Review Found
Charlotte Kuperwasser of Tufts University School of Medicine and Wafik El-Deiry of Brown University reviewed studies conducted from January 2020 to October 2025.
They found 69 papers that met their criteria, including 66 reports of cancers that appeared after COVID-19 vaccination or infection.
Most of the papers were case reports, like Goldman's. A common theme was the rapid growth, return, or flare-up of cancers that were already present.
The authors also looked at population studies from South Korea, Italy, and the U.S. military. Those studies found modest links for some cancer types.
The Part That Rarely Makes the Clip
The authors said their review was not built to estimate mRNA vaccine cancer risk or draw causal claims. They also said no U.S. population study has yet compared cancer outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated people past 42 days.
So, what are the cancer rates among vaccinated people? Right now, nobody can say with confidence. A case report is like a smoke alarm going off. It tells you to check the house. It does not tell you what is burning, or even whether there is a fire.
Why 66 Reports Can't Give You a Rate
You may think 66 reports sound like a lot. But a case report counts the people something happened to. It doesn't count the people it didn't happen to. That second number is what turns a story into a rate.
That is why the authors call for strong long-term studies. That is a fair request for a question that, in Goldman's words, is still to be determined.
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Frequently Asked Questions About COVID Vaccine Cancer Claims
What paper did Dr. McCullough cite on Joe Rogan?
He pointed to a 2026 review in Oncotarget by Charlotte Kuperwasser of Tufts University School of Medicine and Wafik El-Deiry of Brown University, titled 'COVID vaccination and post-infection cancer signals: Evaluating patterns and potential biological mechanisms.'
Do COVID vaccines cause cancer?
The review doesn't answer that. Its authors said it was not built to estimate cancer risk or draw causal claims. It gathers published reports and calls for careful follow-up research on the COVID vaccine and cancer question.
Why can't case reports show a cancer rate?
A rate needs two numbers: the people who got cancer and the total number of people in the group. Case reports only give the first number.
The Bottom Line
- The review Dr. McCullough cited is real: Kuperwasser and El-Deiry identified 69 papers, including 66 reports, from 2020 to 2025.
- Most of those papers were individual case reports, and the review covers cancers after infection as well as vaccination.
- The authors say the review was not built to estimate cancer risk or prove cause. The authors call for long-term studies.
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Notes and References
- Goldman, S., Bron, D., Tousseyn, T., Vierasu, I., Dewispelaere, L., Heimann, P., Cogan, E., & Goldman, M. (2021). Rapid progression of angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma following BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine booster shot: A case report. Frontiers in Medicine, 8, 798095. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.798095
- Kuperwasser, C., & El-Deiry, W. S. (2026). COVID vaccination and post-infection cancer signals: Evaluating patterns and potential biological mechanisms. Oncotarget, 17. https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28824
The South Korean cohort study (Biomarker Research, 2025) is the subject of an expression of concern issued by the journal; the issues raised are under review.
Editor's note: The South Korean, Italian, and U.S. military studies are cited as summarized in Kuperwasser and El-Deiry (2026).
† The Food and Drug Administration has not checked these statements. This product is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and is not recommended if pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Ask your healthcare provider before use. This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your personal health decisions.
