Cancers : research on Google reflect their actual impact

GaudiLab/epictura

Published the 29.06.2017 at 13h56

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Tell me what you are looking for on the internet, I will tell you what you’re suffering. A study published in JAMA Dermatology suggests the existence of a correlation between the incidence and mortality of cancer and to the research carried out by the Americans on the internet.

Researchers from the universities of Pennsylvania and California (Usa) have combed through the Google searches in each State of the country between 2009 and 2013. To refine their research, they focused on the 10 most common cancers and the most deadly in the United States, cancers of the colon, lung or melanoma.

These millions of pieces of information data have been downloaded by scientists in September 2016. Then, they were compared with national cancer registries that indicate the incidence and the mortality for each of these malignancies.

It is clear that for 8 cancers, the number of searches on the internet and the impact match. These include colon cancer, lymphoma, or cancer of the thyroid. Searches on Google seem to also reflect the cancer mortality rates for cancers of the colon, lung, lymphoma and melanoma.

Prevention campaigns work

In contrast, the us researchers note that for the cancers of the breast, the prostate and the bladder, research on the web, and the records do not match. “The existence of major campaigns of prevention for these diseases, including screening programs, could partly explain these results, note the authors. For example, studies have already shown that during pink October, the breast cancer research of the breast explode “.

Similarly, the research on the melanoma reaches a peak in may because this month is dedicated to awareness and prevention of this skin cancer. Educated, the population is therefore more inclined to seek information about these diseases or the means of prevention.

If these results confirm the interest of these campaigns, the general public, the researchers believe that the analysis of the research on internet can provide information on the incidence and mortality from cancer, and in particular those for which data are not recorded in the national registers.