Many Americans Believe Cancer Myths

(WebMD)  True or not: Underwire bras cause breast cancer? How about that the risk of dying from cancer in the U.S. is increasing.

If you answered "no" to the first statement, and "yes" to the second, you probably know as much as the average American about cancer risk, according to a newly published survey by the American Cancer Society.

The 12-question survey revealed that a surprising number of Americans believe scientifically unproven claims concerning cancer.

The questions included those about cancer risk associated with smoking, commercial tanning, and behaviors, such as the use of electronic devices and personal hygiene products.

The notion that underwire bras cause cancer is pure urban myth that has been making the rounds on the Internet for the past several years, Kevin Stein, Ph.D., of the ACS, tells WebMD.

Death Risk Dropping

Nearly seven in 10 people surveyed (68 percent) incorrectly believed the risk of dying from cancer was increasing in the U.S.

While the overall number of cancer deaths has been rising, this is because the population is increasing, as is the average age of Americans.

But statistics make it clear that an individual's risk of dying from cancer has been going down over the last two decades, while the five-year survival rate among people with the disease has been going up, says Stein.

"It is not hard to understand why people would believe their risk of dying from cancer is greater, but the implications for prevention and treatment are
troubling," Stein tells WebMD. "If people believe we aren't successfully treating cancer or if they believe a certain behavior is not a risk factor, they might be more likely to engage in that behavior or put off seeking treatment."

Stein points out that despite the growing and aging population, the actual number of cancer deaths in the U.S. fell last year for the first time in the history of cancer surveillance.

What You Don't Know . . .

The 957 adults who responded to the survey did reasonably well on many of the questions, with two-thirds correctly identifying at least seven of the 12 statements as false.

The study appears in the Sept. 1 issue of the ACS journal Cancer.

Among the other highlights from the survey:

Nearly 4 out of 10 people (39 percent) incorrectly believed that living in a polluted city was a greater risk for lung cancer than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, while 19 percent were not sure if the statement was true or false.

15 percent incorrectly believed that "people who smoke low-tar cigarettes were less likely to die of lung cancer than people who smoked regular cigarettes, and 11 percent weren't sure if this was true."

Roughly 1 in 5 respondents did not believe or weren't sure if long-time smokers could reduce their lung cancer risk by quitting smoking.

Fewer than 1 in 10 believed that breast cancer screening through mammogram or X-ray caused breast cancer (8.4 percent), that getting a base tan at a tanning salon helped protect against later damage from the sun (6.2 percent), or that underwire bras contribute to breast cancer (6.2 percent).

Misinformed or Misled?

Men were more likely to believe the false or unlikely statements than women, and people with less education were even more likely to endorse the incorrect statements. The finding should help cancer prevention groups better target education efforts in the future, Stein says.

Oncologist Larry Norton, M.D., of New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, says the survey responses also point to a need to better understand where people get their cancer information.

Norton is deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs at the cancer center.

He points out that even with the current restrictions on tobacco advertising, tobacco companies in the U.S. are still spend more each year promoting their products than is spent on all of cancer research.

"It is clear that the American public is misinformed, but are they uninformed or are they being fed misinformation?" he says.

He illustrates the point with the case of a tanning salon near his New York office with a sign in the front window advertising their "safe UV light" tanning beds.

"There is no such thing," he says.

By Salynn Boyles
Reviewed by Louise Chang
© 2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[erasmus6]

Wow, what a relief to find out that underwire bras don't cause cancer!

[gaye5]

What a lot of rot, whilst there is an increase in population which of course will attribute to the appearance of more deaths, there is till definitely an huge increase in cancers amongst children, young people as well as older people.

The risk of liver cancer is increased in women who take oral contraceptives .... Lancet 1996;

Moan and Dahlback (1992) contend, that the dramatic increases in the annual age-adjusted incidence rate of malignant melanoma from 1957 to 1984 were not accompanied by increases in exposure to ultraviolet radiation, based on measured ozone levels. They conclude that ozone depletion could not be responsible for increases in skin cancer rates. In their Lancet commentary "Skin Cancer and the Ozone Shield," Staehelin et al. (1990) also maintain that the increasing incidence of skin cancer in Switzerland must be attributed primarily to human behavioral changes rather than ozone depletion.
"Induced abortion before first term pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer." (Lancet, 2/22/86, p. 436) ...
If room permitted I would give more, but many cancers are on the increase per head of population..
30 years ago we liven in NZ with a population of 3 million people and cancer was not heard of much, but now the population is only 4 million and cancer is now one of the major causes of death.. hmmm.

[grammawhamma]

I live near a small rural town that is surrounded by potato fields. Every oncologist who has practiced here is amazed at the extreamly high per-capita rate of cancer. My guess is that is from all the herbicides and pesticides sprayed on the fields. At least they don't allow crop dusting here anymore. When my kids move to town I tell them not to drink the tap water.