Several posts on Instagram and Facebook have attempted to link Jeremy Clarkson’s diagnosis of prostate cancer, which he disclosed earlier this year, with Covid-19 vaccines. The posts suggest that the presenter has “turbo cancer” and that this has been “caused by the mRNA Covid shots”.
However, there is no evidence that Covid vaccines are linked to new cancer diagnoses and “turbo cancer” is not a medically recognised term.
As we’ve written before, the definition of “turbo cancer” is somewhat unclear. It seems to refer to aggressive cancers that grow and spread rapidly, with the suggestion that these types of cancer or the volume of them are unusual. However, aggressive cancer types have existed prior to vaccinations for Covid being introduced and Full Fact is not aware of any evidence to suggest that Covid vaccinations have increased the incidence of these types of cancer.
The term “turbo cancer” seems to be used by some online specifically in relation to vaccinations for Covid, and appears linked to the increase in vaccination misinformation since the pandemic.
Several experts responded to claims made about Covid vaccines causing cancer in 2025 and dismissed them as being unfounded. Virologist and emeritus professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick Lawrence Young told the British Medical Journal “Clearly, it is massive misinformation … There is absolutely no medical evidence to support that, it has really been the product of anecdotal reports.”
Professor of cancer virology at the University of Leeds, Stephen Griffin, also said “There’s no evidence linking covid vaccines or indeed any vaccine that I’m aware of with an increase in cancer and certainly not this phenomenon of so-called turbo cancers.”
Conversely, mRNA vaccines are being researched and trialled as cancer treatments because they can be individualised and tailored more rapidly than traditional vaccines towards specific diseases, strains and cancer types. We’ve written about this before.
Anecdotal reports of “turbo cancer”?
The theories for turbo cancer seem to stem from anecdotal evidence. One of the most often cited is a case report published in 2021 on the experience of a patient with a rare type of lymphoma (a type of blood cancer).
Following vaccination, it appeared that the cancer had progressed and this led to the hypothesis that it was due to the vaccination. However, the report itself said the circumstances were “extremely rare” and cautioned against generalising to other patients. It also emphasised that Covid vaccines had an “overall favourable benefit-risk ratio”.
Whilst case reports have some use in developing hypotheses which may be used to guide future research, they have inherent limitations which means they do not rank highly in the hierarchy of evidence based medical research.
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is a gland in men that sits below the bladder and produces fluid for semen. Prostate cancer is more common with increasing age, if there is a family history and also in those from a Black African and Afro-Caribbean background. It was the most common type of cancer diagnosed in England in 2023 (the latest year we have data for) and it affects approximately one in eight men in their lifetime.
Some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and others grow more rapidly and are more aggressive. Prostate cancer diagnoses have increased over time and this is partly due to increased testing and ageing populations.
According to Cancer Research UK, there are no modifiable risk factors that have been conclusively linked to the development of prostate cancer. In other words, there are currently no known risk factors for prostate cancer that are considered preventable. There are, however, medical conditions and treatments that are associated with lower risks of prostate cancer.
Similar claims connecting Covid vaccinations and cancer have been checked by others and found to be false.
