ArticleAnnals of internal medicine2014
What are cancer centers advertising to the public?: a content analysis.
Article in Annals of internal medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Presentation of Benefits and Harms in US Cancer Screening and Prevention Guidelines: Systematic Review.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2016Pooled it
- Exposure to direct-to-consumer advertising is associated with overestimation of benefits regarding ultrahypofractionated radiation therapy for prostate cancer.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2020Trial
- Covert Promotional Cancer-Related Content in Korean Search Engines: Computational Content Analysis of Naver and Google.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Advertising Ban in Healthcare: A Qualitative Study from the Perspective of Private Hospital Managers in Türkiye.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Evaluating Patient Experience With Genomic Medicine: A Content Analysis of National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Centers' Websites.JMIR cancer · 2025Article
- Impact of frailty on the long-term prognosis of the elderly with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Decision-making and autonomy among participants in early-phase cancer immunotherapy trials: a qualitative study.BMC cancer · 2024Article
- The effect of disease anthropomorphism on compliance with health recommendations.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2023Article
- The TRIBE model: How socioemotional processes fuel end-of-life treatment in the United States.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023Review
- "More than conquerors": a qualitative analysis of war metaphors for patients with cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Article
- [Health Professionals expectations' about the benefit of regular Primary Care interventions].Atencion primaria · 2022Article
- Characterization of US Hospital Advertising and Association With Hospital Performance, 2008-2016.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- Marketing the Research Missions of Academic Medical Centers: Why Messages Blurring Lines Between Clinical Care and Research Are Bad for both Business and Ethics.Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees · 2019Article
- Cancer hospital advertising and outcomes: trust the messenger?The Lancet. Oncology · 2019Article
- When Religion and Medicine Clash: Non-beneficial Treatments and Hope for a Miracle.HEC forum : an interdisciplinary journal on hospitals' ethical and legal issues · 2019Article
- Languages for different health information readers: multitrait-multimethod content analysis of Cochrane systematic reviews textual summary formats.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Article
- Online advertising and marketing claims by providers of proton beam therapy: are they guideline-based?Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2018Article
- Palliative care content on cancer center websites.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018Article
- Homing in on the Social: System-Level Influences on Overly Aggressive Treatments at the End of Life.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough critics have expressed concerns about cancer center advertising, analyses of the content of these advertisements are lacking.
objectiveTo characterize the informational and emotional content of direct-to-consumer cancer center advertisements.
designContent analysis.
settingTop U.S. consumer magazines (n = 269) and television networks (n = 44) in 2012. MEASUREMENTS: Types of clinical services promoted; information provided about clinical services, including risks, benefits, costs, and insurance availability; use of emotional advertising appeals; and use of patient testimonials were assessed. Two investigators independently coded advertisements using ATLAS.ti, and κ values ranged from 0.77 to 1.00.
resultsA total of 102 cancer centers placed 409 unique clinical advertisements in top media markets in 2012. Advertisements promoted treatments (88%) more often than screening (18%) or supportive services (13%). Benefits of advertised therapies were described more often than risks (27% vs. 2%) but were rarely quantified (2%). Few advertisements mentioned coverage or costs (5%), and none mentioned specific insurance plans. Emotional appeals were frequent (85%), evoking hope for survival (61%), describing cancer treatment as a fight or battle (41%), and inducing fear (30%). Nearly one half of advertisements included patient testimonials, which were usually focused on survival, rarely included disclaimers (15%), and never described the results that a typical patient may expect. LIMITATION: Internet advertisements were not included.
conclusionClinical advertisements by cancer centers frequently promote cancer therapy with emotional appeals that evoke hope and fear while rarely providing information about risks, benefits, costs, or insurance availability. Further work is needed to understand how these advertisements influence patient understanding and expectations of benefit from cancer treatments. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.