Media criticised for being too optimistic about cancer reports
Media criticised for being too optimistic when reporting on cancer
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Tuesday, 16, Mar 2010 06:00
Cancer reports in newspapers and magazines are "overly optimistic" and do not paint a real picture of death and treatment failure, a report has found.
The research, conducted in the US and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said the media paints too rosy a picture of cancer, when the reality is that an estimated one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime; and of these, approximately half will die of cancer or related complications.
The authors of the study recognise that because of stark figures - such as more than half a million Americans being expected to die of cancer every year - the media report frequently on the disease. But they say the articles focus on the wrong aspects of cancer.
The research found that articles were most likely to focus on breast or prostate cancer, but that they were more likely to focus on survival rather than death rates or palliative care.
"It is surprising that few articles discuss death and dying considering that half of all patients diagnosed as having cancer will not survive," the authors write.
"The findings are also surprising given that scientists, media critics and the lay public repeatedly criticize the news for focusing on death."
They said more of a focus was needed on "palliative and hospice care because this information can help [patients] make decisions".
"The media routinely report about aggressive treatment and survival presumably because cancer news coverage is relevant to a large portion of the population, and, for the same reason, similar attention should be devoted to the alternatives," the authors conclude.