Impact of Breast Cancer campaigns in the last 5 years: A global assessment with Google Trends

Purpose According to the studies conducted in Iran, the breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women. This study aimed to explore the state of health information supply and demand on breast cancer among Iranian medical researchers and Iranian Web users from 2011 to 2015. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method research is conducted in this study. In qualitative part, a focus group interview is applied to the users to identify their selected keywords searched for breast cancer in Google. The collected data are analyzed using Open Code software. In quantitative part, data are synthesized using the R software in two parts. First, users’ internet information-seeking behavior (ISB) is analyzed using the Google Trends outputs from 2011 to 2015. Second, the scientific publication behavior of Iranian breast cancer specialists are surveyed using PubMed during the period of the study. Findings The results show that the search volume index of preferred keywords on breast cancer has increased from 4,119 in 2011 to 4,772 in 2015. Also, the findings reveal that Iranian scholars had 873 scientific papers on breast cancer in PubMed from 2011 to 2015. There was a significant and positive relationship between Iranian ISB in the Google Trends and SPB of Iranian scholars on breast cancer in PubMed. Research limitations/implications This study investigates only the state of health information supply and demand in PubMed and Google Trends and not additional databases often used for medical studies and treatment. Originality/value This study provides a road map for health policymakers in Iran to direct the breast cancer studies.

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Using Google Trends Data to Study Public Interest in Breast Cancer Screening in Brazil: Why Not a Pink February?

JMIR Public Health and Surveillance ◽

10.2196/publichealth.7015 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. e17 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Paulo Roberto Vasconcellos-Silva ◽

Dárlinton Barbosa Feres Carvalho ◽

Valéria Trajano ◽

Lucia Rodriguez de La Rocque ◽

Anunciata Cristina Marins Braz Sawada ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Screening ◽

Breast Cancer Screening ◽

Public Interest ◽

Google Trends

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EPR19-067: Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on Internet Search Activity Compared to Other Gynecological Malignancies

Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network ◽

10.6004/jnccn.2018.7135 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (3.5) ◽

pp. EPR19-067

Author(s):

Akriti Gupta Jain ◽

Abdul Kareem Khan ◽

Ranjeet Kumar ◽

Mohammed Wazir ◽

Syed Askari Hasan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cervical Cancer ◽

Reference Value ◽

Google Trends ◽

Internet Search ◽

Search Activity ◽

Cancer Awareness ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Breast Cancer Awareness ◽

The Masses

Background: Breast Cancer (BC) is common, with 1 in 8 U.S. women (12.4%) developing invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. BC is associated with the most awareness campaigns with pink ribbon as its symbol. October was earmarked as the breast cancer awareness month (CAM) in 1985. Cervical (CC) and ovarian cancers (OC) are associated with a high mortality as well and have awareness months dedicated to them. The aim of these awareness drives is to change public attitude and help in early detection and ultimately prevention of various cancers. Internet search activity can be used as a method to gauge interest and awareness in the masses. We aimed to assess the popularity of BC compared to other gynecological cancers, including OC and CC. Methods: We compared the relative frequency of search terms “Breast Cancer,” “Ovarian Cancer,” and “Cervical Cancer” between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2017 (n=168 months) using Google Trends, a public web facility of Google Inc. The software designates a reference value of 100 for the point of highest popularity and it provides relative monthly popularity scores for all the terms, which we termed as comparative interest scores (CIS). Within each cancer, average CIS was then compared for their respective awareness months (n=14 months; October for BC, September for OC, and January for CC) to the remaining months (n=154 months). Results: The mean CIS for BC was significantly higher during its CAM, 70.5 as compared to other months 35.9; p<0.001. However, for CC mean CIS during January (7.4) was not different compared to the other months (7.4); P=1.00. And for OC, CIS was significantly higher during its CAM (9.2) compared to other months (7.7); P=.0002. The peak of highest popularity for breast cancer was observed during October 2004 and all peaks corresponded to the CAM; other smaller peaks were seen during significant news events associated with BC, all of which surpassed OC and CC in those months. Overall BC CIS were significantly higher compared to CC (P<.001) and OC (P<.001). Conclusions: We conclude that BC awareness campaigns have succeeded in increasing internet search activity during its CAM but ovarian and cervical cancer campaigns especially when compared to breast cancer have not been as successful. There is still a need to increase awareness among masses. Google trends data also tells us which states in US have more internet search activity compared to others which can be used to target the relatively unaware public.

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Subjective Global Assessment—An independent predictor of survival in breast cancer

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2008.26.15_suppl.17541 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 26 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. 17541-17541

Author(s):

S. Dahlk ◽

P. G. Vashi ◽

D. Gupta ◽

C. A. Lammersfeld ◽

A. Aslam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Global Assessment ◽

Independent Predictor ◽

Subjective Global Assessment

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Is “Movember” an Effective Prostate Cancer Awareness Campaign Beyond the English Language? Insights From Google Trends Among Spanish Speakers

Société Internationale d’Urologie Journal ◽

10.48083/uhsi5324 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. 362-369

Author(s):

Daniel A. González-Padilla ◽

Rodrigo España-Navarro ◽

José Daniel Subiela ◽

Raj Kumar ◽

Luis G. Medina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Prostate Cancer ◽

English Language ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Google Trends ◽

Cáncer De Mama ◽

Cancer Awareness ◽

Awareness Campaign ◽

Cáncer De Próstata ◽

The Impact

Objective To evaluate the impact of the “Movember” awareness campaign (men’s health campaign that takes place every November) on internet search trends for information online about prostate cancer and to compare the results with those for “Pinktober” (the breast cancer awareness campaign that takes place in October) in the Spanish language as an indirect measure of its effectiveness. Methods Google Trends was used to evaluate the monthly relative search volumes (RSV) of the terms “cáncer de próstata” (prostate cancer), “cáncer de mama” (breast cancer), and “Movember” from January 2009 to December 2019 both in Spain and worldwide (in the Spanish language). Breast cancer was used as a comparator of the campaign impact. Mean increase in RSV on-campaign and off-campaign was calculated and compared using the Mann-Whitney U test and Joinpoint regression analysis to assess loss or gain of interest. Results The term “cáncer de próstata” showed a statistically significant increase during the campaign months both in Spain (17.4%; P < 0.001) and worldwide (35.4%; P < 0.001). Both “cáncer de próstata” and Movember showed a decreasing trend worldwide and in Spain, while “cáncer de mama” showed an increasing trend. Conclusion The Movember campaign generates a statistically significant increase in the search trends on “cancer de próstata” (prostate cancer) during the month of November (both in Spain and worldwide); when compared with the breast cancer campaign “Pinktober” these increases are of a lesser magnitude but still significant, suggesting that the campaign is effective beyond the English language, although the interest has been decreasing throughout the years.

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Cardiac toxicity in breast cancer patients: From a fractional point of view to a global assessment

Cancer Treatment Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.ctrv.2010.08.007 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 321-330 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Cyrus Chargari ◽

Krassen M. Kirov ◽

Marc A. Bollet ◽

Nicolas Magné ◽

Lionel Védrine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Global Assessment ◽

Cardiac Toxicity ◽

Point Of View ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month: The Impact of Even the Most Successful Campaigns Fades

10.21203/rs.3.rs-44816/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Frédéric Lapostolle ◽

Lisa Weisslinger ◽

Charles Durand ◽

Frédéric Adnet

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

United States ◽

Public Information ◽

The United States ◽

Google Trends ◽

Cancer Awareness ◽

Search Volume ◽

Breast Cancer Awareness ◽

Internet Searches ◽

The Impact

Abstract BackgroundFor over 35 years the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’ (BCAM) has worked to increase public information about breast cancer and to raise funds for research. The aim of this study was to analyze how the interest generated by this campaign evolved over time, in the US and other countries.MethodsWe investigated the Google Trends® according to previously recommended methods. The study was based on Internet searches using the term ‘’breast cancer’’ worldwide and in the United-States. Google Trends® gives the relative search volume of every request as an index on a scale from 0 to 100, (100 corresponding to the maximum number of requests during the studied period). We compared the relative searches index using the term ‘’breast cancer’’ during October, the breast cancer awareness month, and the rest of the of the year avec a 10 years period.Results120 months were analyzed including 10 October months. Median index for worldwide searches on ‘’breast cancer’’ during the 110 months was 35 (34-39). It didn’t significantly change during the study period (R2=0,3). Median index of the 10 peaks was 83 (64-92) (p<0,001 vs 110 months). The peak index linearly decreased (R2=0,88) during the study period. It reached 100 in 2012 and 64 in 2020. In the United-States, median index for searches during the 110 months was 28 (26-32). It didn’t significantly change during the study period (R2=0,3). Median index of the 10 peaks was 83 (63-92) (p<0,001 vs 110 months). The peak index linearly decreased (R2=0,73) during the study period. It reached 100 in 2012 and 64 in 2020.ConclusionsThis internet activity study shows that the impact of the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’ seems to be slowly decreasing. The number of Internet searches generated by the campaign has been reduced by almost 40% in both the United-States and worldwide.

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