Doctors and nurses caring for cancer patients need to recognise that they will seek advice from the internet, researchers said today.
Very few patients have websites recommended to them by professionals, according to a report in British Journal of Cancer.
The study was conducted at one hospital, in Northampton, England.
Researchers found that about half of patients were searching the internet for more information about their treatment. And most of these said they would like to discuss their findings with doctors or nurses – but did not have the opportunity to do so.
Some 204 patients took part in the study.
Researcher Elaine Davies, of Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, said: “Health professionals need to determine what information patients are most interested in and how they can offer guidance to credible websites.
“It’s undeniable that reliable information can improve patients’ understanding of chemotherapy and can be a good way of tailoring consultations to address the individual needs of a patient.”
Fellow researcher Dr Kheng-Wei Yeoh, of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, said: “Discussion of internet chemotherapy information could in fact be an opportunity to strengthen this relationship by clearing up any concerns, relieving anxiety and helping to make difficult decisions.”
The five most popular sites mentioned by patients were two maintained by Cancer Research UK, the Macmillan cancer site and Breast Cancer Care and Beating Bowel Cancer.
* Young women who develop a form of breast cancer should be offered genetic testing to see if there is a risk affecting their family, experts say today.
Tests for the common cancer gene BRCA1 are not offered routinely to patients – and official advice in the UK says they should be offered if there is more than a 20 per cent chance of the gene being found.
The experts say that about one in three women under the age of 50 treated for triple-negative breast cancer would not be offered a genetic test.
But their analysis, reported today in the British Journal of Cancer, found that 20 per cent of these patients carry the BRCA1 mutation. The disease is the most common kind of breast cancer linked to the mutation.
Researchers say genetic testing may help improve treatment and prevention of recurrence for these women.
It will also help them identify risks faced by other women in their families.
Researcher Professor Nazneen Rahman, of the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, said: "Using a simple age criteria for testing will provide a clear and understandable guide for doctors and women to follow, and should result in many more women benefitting from the optimised care that genetic information makes possible.
"There are hurdles to overcome so that NHS testing services can cope with more BRCA1 testing, but we’re moving towards an era of faster and cheaper genetic testing, so it will soon be possible.”
Professor Peter Johnson, of Cancer Research UK, said more testing would prove cost-effective for the NHS.
He said: “It’s important that we identify women and their families who carry BRCA1 mutations. They’re more likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer, so armed with this knowledge doctors can offer targeted screening and tailored treatments to these women."
One female patient, Rowena Kincaid, aged 36, from Cardiff, Wales, said: "To be offered the chance to find out if I carry the BRCA1 mutation would not only give me insight to my own disease but also allow me and my family to discuss with our doctors if we carry the mutation what the next steps would be.”
Davies E and Yeoh KW, Internet chemotherapy information: impact on patients and health professionals British Journal of Cancer February 15 2012; doi: 10.1038/bjc2011.601
L. Robertson et al BRCA1 testing should be offered to individuals with triple-negative breast cancer diagnosed below 50 years British Journal of Cancer February 15 2012; doi:10.1038/bjc.2012.31
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