TOPLINE:

Among nearly 1000 patients with breast cancer, 76% reported encountering misinformation about breast cancer. Despite the pervasiveness, exposure to misinformation did not appear to increase patients’ fear of recurrence or affect treatment adherence, a recent survey found.

METHODOLOGY:

• Although misinformation about cancer is common, it’s not clear whether, or how, exposure to this misinformation affects patients’ fear of cancer recurrence or adherence to evidence-based treatment.
• To evaluate the impact of cancer misinformation, researchers conducted a cross-sectional online survey. The survey was administered by Breastcancer.org between July and August 2023, recruiting US-based participants through online platforms, social media, and email.
• Overall, survey respondents included 997 adults diagnosed with breast cancer within the past 10 years (median age of 62 years); most were White (86%), married (75%), and college-educated (78%), and just over half (52%) were undergoing active cancer treatment.
• Researchers assessed patients’ exposure to non-evidence-based information about cancer progression or recurrence risk as well as their adherence to treatment and fear of recurrence. The team evaluated fear of recurrence using the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form, scored on a 0-36 scale with scores ≥ 22 indicating clinical relevance.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among the 997 participants, 76% (n = 761) reported encountering misinformation about breast cancer, with 65% (n = 651) reporting misinformation exposure about factors that could increase the risk for cancer progression or recurrence, such as sugar consumption (61%), deodorant use (22%), cell phones (8%), vaccines (8%), and bra type (8%).
• More than half of patients (54%) reported hearing misinformation about factors believed to decrease the risk for cancer progression or recurrence, namely consuming organic food consumption (41%), followed by taking oral vitamins or supplements (29%), consuming an alkaline diet or alkalized water (12%), as well as receiving vitamin infusions (7%).
• Overall, 76% of respondents reported adhering to their treatment. The median Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form score was 19 (interquartile range, 13-24), with 38% (n = 262) of participants reporting clinically significant fear.
• However, the researchers found no significant association between exposure to cancer misinformation and clinically significant fear of cancer recurrence (P = .47) or treatment nonadherence (P = .34).

IN PRACTICE:

“We found no correlation between awareness of misinformation and cancer recurrence fears or treatment adherence,” possibly because patients don’t internalize all the misinformation or have competing beliefs about health and medicine that influence behavior more, the study authors explained. But given the rise in cancer misinformation, “strong survivorship education and communication is vital.”

SOURCE:

The study, led by David Gibbes Miller, MD, and Kaitlyn Lapen, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, was published online in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s recruitment through Breastcancer.org may not reflect individuals with less access to or interest in online communities. While the survey assessed exposure to misinformation, it did not evaluate information sources, participant beliefs, or intentions to act on misinformation. Unmeasured confounding factors, including health literacy, digital information health-seeking behaviors, and baseline anxiety levels, could have influenced the findings. Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form scores were only available for 70% of participants, potentially limiting the ability to identify associations between misinformation exposure and fear of recurrence.

DISCLOSURES:

Edward Christopher Dee, MD, disclosed receiving grant funding from the Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award during the study. Junzo P. Chino, MD, reported consulting fees from Merck, Teleflex, and Stryker, along with personal fees for data and safety monitoring board work from Kortuc LLC and LadeRx LLC. Fumiko Chino, MD, disclosed receiving grants from Merck and advisory board work from AJMC. The study was supported through the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute. The funder had no role in the design, conduct, analysis, or publication decisions of the study.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.