Single-institution study: About 86% of patients aware of DTC cancer advertising

The vast majority of patients responding to a survey had some exposure to cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising, but few discussed the products advertised with their physician and even fewer received prescriptions for the advertised products.

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston administered a survey to 348 patients with a variety of cancers; the response rate was 75%. Overall, 86.2% of patients reported being aware of cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising, mostly for supportive products. Most exposure came from television (77.7%) or magazines (66.7%).

Among the respondents, 56.8% said the advertising helped them have better discussions with their physicians. However, only 17.3% of patients discussed the advertised medications with doctors and/or nurses. Also, only 3% reported seeing an advertisement for a cancer-related product, discussing it with a provider and receiving a prescription for the medication.

Almost two-thirds of respondents said the advertising informed them about treatments they were not aware of, and 65.2% said the advertisements were balanced. A small minority, 11.2%, said the advertisements made them more distrustful of their physician’s judgment.

The researchers also found that respondents with fewer than four years of college had better overall impressions of the advertising, and these patients were most likely to report that cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising led to better discussions with health care providers.

“Although patients with cancer are highly aware of cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising, they report that it prompts few changes in therapy,” the researchers said. “On the other hand, changes in treatment prompted by marketing — even if infrequent — can have serious implications for patient care, and future research should thus include a rigorous assessment of the appropriateness of such changes.”

Abel GA. J Clin Oncol. 2009;doi:10.1200/JCO.2008.20.6599.