'This well is not to be built over': A California ranch was warned 20 years ago; young teens are now suffering from a rare cancer

Children and teens in Ladera Ranch, California, are getting a rare bone cancer at a higher rate than the national average. (Photo: LA Times) Ladera Ranch is a 4,000-acre planned community in southern Orange County, California. As per the 2020 census, this ranch had a population of 26,170. The residents of the ranch have now raised a cancer concern with the California Department of Public Health that children or young adults of the ranch are suffering from Ewing sarcoma, a very rare cancer that starts in bone or soft tissue. About 2.9 out of every 1 million kids get Ewing sarcoma each year in the US, but the number for Orange County is 3.1.At least six cases of Ewing sarcoma were reported between 2013 and 2024. “There definitely is cause for concern for members of this community,” Dr Janet Yoon, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at City of Hope who specializes in Ewing sarcoma, said to the Los Angeles Times.Parents believe there is something wrong in the ranchLA Times spoke to Ladera Ranch resident Bonnie Regan, whose son Ryan died of this cancer in October 2025. Ryan was diagnosed with this cancer in 2017 when he was 29. He fought the cancer for eight years until it spread to his...