...
By Jasmine Laws
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
More than 60 years ago, the CIA kept private a report about notable cancer research, according to a declassified document made publicly available in 2011.
The document has recently been circulating on the social media platform X, even though it has been public on the CIA's website for over a decade.
Many on the platform have also been asserting false claims about the report, including that it reveals a kept-secret cure for cancer, which the report does not.
Read More on News
Newsweek has contacted the CIA via email for comment.
...
Why It Matters
While the documents were declassified more than 10 years ago, the recent backlash against the CIA's decision to keep the information initially private may add to growing distrust Americans feel toward the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies.
What Research Was in the Declassified Document?
The research, published in Leningrad, Russia, in 1950, explored the resemblance between endoparasites, parasites which live inside a host in areas like the gut, lungs, heart and blood vessels, and malignant (i.e. cancerous) tumors. It was classified by the CIA around the time of its distribution.
The report outlines how parasitic worms that live in the intestines "exhibit pronounced anaerobic metabolism," and that they "deposit in their bodies large quantities of glycogen," a store of energy. It is this accumulation of glycogen that the researchers of the report say makes them similar to tumors.
The researchers continue in the report that one drug, Myracyl D, was "effective" against bilharzia parasites, as well as cancerous tumors, although it does not explicitly suggest this to be a possible cure for cancer.
The conclusion of the research is more focused on the similarities between malignant tumors and parasites, without any in-depth investigation or analysis about a cure, despite reports on social media saying the document indicates the CIA withheld information about a possible cancer cure.
Public Backlash Over the Documents
Social media users have been outraged that the CIA initially kept private information about a possible similarity between parasites and cancer, and many have been asserting false claims about what the research means—most notably that the research unveiled a possible cure for cancer.
Isabella De Luca, who has more than 509,000 followers on X, wrote on the platform that the CIA knew "there was a link between parasites and cancer. So what did they do? They locked the research away for 70+ years. They want you sick, weak, and controlled."
Its important to note that a similarity between parasitic worms and cancerous growths does not necessarily mean there is a link between the two.
Another user, @kirawontmiss, who has more than 2.3 million followers, wrote: "every single conspiracy theory has been proven to be right this year."
Stern Drew, an X user with 14,000 followers on X, wrote on the platform that the documents "proves the agency reviewed Soviet research showing parasitic worms behave EXACTLY like cancer tumors at a biochemical level. Even better: anti-parasitic drugs were DESTROYING tumors in lab tests!"
"But instead of shouting it from the rooftops and saving millions, they CLASSIFIED IT and let it rot in their vaults while Big Pharma raked in TRILLIONS on poison chemo, radiation, and "treatments" that keep patients sick for life," he added.
Update 5/3/26, 3:10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to clarify that researchers did not explicitly suggest Myracyl D was a cure for cancer.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines