Cancer Information Seeking in the Digital Age

Objective. This study used digital surveillance to examine the impact of Angelina Jolie’s prophylactic mastectomy announcement on cancer information seeking. Methods. We analyzed 4 categories of breast cancer–related Internet search queries from 2010 to 2013 in the United States. Results. Compared with the preceding 6 weeks, general information queries were 112% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79–146) higher the day of the announcement and remained 35% (95% CI, 22–49) higher over the week after the editorial. Risk assessment queries were 165% (95% CI, 110–222) higher the day of the announcement and 52% (95% CI, 31–75) higher across the week. Genetics and treatment queries showed little volume before the announcement but increased 2154% (95% CI, 1550–7076) and 9900% (95% CI, 3196–1,064,000) the day of, respectively, and remained higher across the week (812% [95% CI, 402–3913] and 2625% [95% CI, 551–317,000]). All query categories returned to normal volumes by the beginning of the second week. Conclusion. Jolie’s unique announcement spurred significant information seeking about breast cancer genetic testing and treatment procedures, although the surge in queries returned to preannouncement levels after 1 week. Future research should apply digital methods to advance our understanding of cancer information seeking in the digital age.