The impact of cancer campaigns in Brazil: a Google Trends analysis

Abstract

It is estimated that more than 600,000 new cases of cancer will be reported in Brazil during the 2018–2019 biennium, especially with regard to prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancers. Due to the high prevalence, incidence and mortality rates of these diseases, cancer campaigns such as ‘Pink October’ and ‘Blue November’ were strongly promoted in the past decade throughout the country to raise awareness of breast and prostate cancer, respectively. Nevertheless, whether the implementation of these campaigns has been proven efficient is still unknown. In the present study, we analysed the effectiveness of these campaigns on eliciting population online interest for cancer information. The Google Trends database was evaluated for the relative Internet search popularity for the terms ‘breast cancer’ and ‘prostate cancer’ from 2014 to 2019. Aside from some regional differences, we found that there was a high demand for ‘breast cancer’ and, to a lesser extent, ‘prostate cancer’ searches in a seasonal fashion (during October and November, respectively). Despite the worldwide high incidence of lung and colorectal cancers, searches including these keywords did not show increases in any specific period of the year, demonstrating the efficiency of the ‘Pink October’ and ‘Blue November’ campaigns in engaging the interest of the Brazilian population on the subject. These results allow us to infer that campaigns are effective in mobilising the attention of the Brazilian population with regard to breast and prostate cancers, but the practical aspects in reducing incidence and mortality should still be discussed.

The impact of monthly campaigns and other high-profile media coverage on public interest in 13 malignancies: a Google Trends analysis

“…Our results indicate that monthly cancer awareness campaigns for [‘Cervical Cancer’], [‘Colorectal Cancer’], [‘Skin Cancer’], [‘Ovarian Cancer’], [‘Breast Cancer’] and [‘Lung Cancer’] were successful in increasing public interest during monthly awareness campaigns compared with the rest of the calendar year. Our results align with previous research that describes a comparable increase in Google search traffic related to breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month [ 7 , 23 ]. However, our findings indicate that monthly awareness campaigns for [‘Cervical Cancer’], [‘Colorectal Cancer’], [‘Skin Cancer’], [‘Ovarian Cancer’] and [‘Lung Cancer’] have also successfully increased Google search traffic, which is contrary to a previous report that found little evidence to support the effectiveness of non-breast cancer monthly awareness campaigns [ 24 ].…”

“…During these efforts, non-profit organisations from around the country typically join forces to educate the public about a specific type of cancer and to raise funds for further research into the disease. Previous literature has demonstrated the effectiveness of Breast Cancer Awareness Month both domestically and internationally in countries such as Australia, Canada, Brazil, England and Taiwan [ 7 , 8 ]. However, there has been limited research that quantitatively examines the effectiveness of monthly cancer awareness campaigns in the U.S. for lesser known or less well-publicised cancers such as colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, haematological malignancies and prostate cancer.…”

Assessment of IGF-1 expression in the peripheral blood of women with recurrent breast cancer

“…There were an estimated 59,700 new breast cancer cases and 16,927 deaths from the disease in 2019. [ 4 ] Although physical examination and mammography are essential to ensure early diagnosis of the disease and to reduce mortality, breast cancer is still often diagnosed at advanced stages in Brazil, resulting in high mortality rates despite current therapeutic strategies. [ 5 ]…”

Evaluation of the accuracy of mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in suspect breast lesions

“…Breast cancer is the most common cancer among the female population worldwide, with an incidence of 2,088,849 new cases in 2018 and mortality of 626,679 in this year (1). In Brazil, breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer in women after non-melanoma skin cancer, with approximately 59,700 new cases in 2019 and 15,403 deaths registered in 2015 (2).…”