Large swathes of people have “mythical” beliefs when it comes to the causes of cancer, a new study suggests.
Members of the public incorrectly identify stress, food additives, genetically modified foods and electromagnetic fields as causes of cancer.
Meanwhile, people had poor awareness of a number of known cancer risk factors such as obesity, eating red or processed meat or drinking alcohol, according to the Cancer Research UK-funded study.
Experts from University College London (UCL) and the University of Leeds said that the public’s endorsement of mythical cancer causes has risen over the last decade – possibly due to changes in the way people access information through social media and the internet.
Researchers surveyed 1,330 people in England about their beliefs on the causes of cancer.
Participants were asked how much they agreed items on a list – which included known risk factors and “mythical” factors – can increase a person’s chance of developing cancer.
The study, published in the European Journal of Cancer, found that a quarter of people incorrectly believed that using a mobile phone was a risk factor for cancer while more than two in five people think stress or food additives may increase their risk.
More than a third (35%) incorrectly said that electromagnetic frequencies was a risk factor while three in 10 falsely believe that living near power lines could be at play.
Aerosols, cleaning products and artificial sweeteners were all also incorrectly identified as cancer risk factors.
Meanwhile, people also failed to identify known risk factors, including drinking alcohol, not getting enough fruit and vegetables each day, low levels of physical activity and being over the age of 70.
Two in five failed to identify being overweight or obese as a cancer risk factor.
“Obesity was also poorly recognised, which is concerning considering it is the second leading preventable cause of cancer,” the authors wrote.
Dr Samuel Smith, from the University of Leeds, said: “It’s worrying to see so many people endorse risk factors for which there is no convincing evidence.
“Compared to past research it appears the number of people believing in unproven causes of cancer has increased since the start of the century which could be a result of changes to how we access news and information through the internet and social media.
“It’s vital to improve public education about the causes of cancer if we want to help people make informed decisions about their lives and ensure they aren’t worrying unnecessarily.”
UCL’s Dr Lion Shahab added: “People’s beliefs are so important because they have an impact on the lifestyle choices they make. Those with better awareness of proven causes of cancer were more likely not to smoke and to eat more fruit and vegetables.”
Clare Hyde, from Cancer Research UK, said: “Around four in 10 cancer cases could be prevented through lifestyle changes so it’s crucial we have the right information to help us separate the wheat from the chaff.
“Smoking, being overweight and overexposure to UV radiation from the sun and sunbeds are the biggest preventable causes of cancer.
“There is no guarantee against getting cancer but by knowing the biggest risk factors we can stack the odds in our favour to help reduce our individual risk of the disease, rather than wasting time worrying about fake news.”
The proportion of participants who said they “agreed” or “strongly” agreed that so-called “mythical cancer causes” are risk factors for developing cancer were:
Electromagnetic frequencies – 34.7%
Food additives – 41.1%
Living near power lines – 30.0%
Stress – 41.7%
Artificial sweeteners – 31.3%
Cleaning products – 24.3%
Using mobile phones – 26.1%
GM food – 34.1%
Aerosols – 25.3%
Physical trauma – 25.6%
Microwave ovens – 19.6%
Plastic bottles – 14.6%
The percentage of respondents who said they “agreed” or “strongly” agreed that the “actual causes of cancer” were indeed risk factors were:
Having a close relative with cancer – 63.8%
Getting sunburnt – 60.1%
Exposure to another person’s cigarette smoke – 78.4%
Doing less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times per week – 35.1%
Being over 70 years – 42.5%
Infection with HPV – 28.9%
Smoking – 86.4%
Eating red/processed meat – 37.5%
Not eating five portions of fruit/veg – 28.3%
Drinking more than one unit of alcohol – 40.6%
Being overweight – 60.4%
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here