Ask and you shall receive: Information-seeking patients more likely to receive information (and therapies)

By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn of Health Populi

Four in 10 cancer patients sought information via the Internet, according to a new study to be published in the April 1, 2009, issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Cancer.

The downside of information-seeking cancer patients, according to the study, is that 1 in 4 of these patients received the drugs off-label -- that is, for a use not approved by the FDA. In these cases, the cancer drugs have been used for patients in both late and early stages of cancer-- the latter for which a drug might not be approved for use.

The study looked at the relationship between information-seeking and awareness of therapies targeted to colorectal cancer patients. The hypothesis was that information-seeking patients who ask their physicians about cancer drugs would be more likely to receive them than patients who don't look for health information.

The outcome: information-seeking patients for colorectal cancer therapies were 2.83 times more likely to have heard about the therapies -- and 3.22 times more likely to receive these therapies -- than people who don't seek information.

The study was based on 633 colorectal cancer patients registered in the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry, focusing on their information-seeking habits and the specific therapies of Avastin and Erbitux.

The paper, Colon cancer patient information seeking and the adoption of targeted therapy for on-label and off-label indications, will be published in today's issue of Cancer.