receiving chemotherapy
Photo by Rhoda Baer
Results of a new survey suggest many adults in the UK may be uninformed about cancer treatment options, despite broad media coverage of these therapies.
Personalized drug treatment, immunotherapy, and proton beam therapy have all been covered by the lay media and featured in news stories across the globe.
But a survey of more than 2000 UK adults showed that most respondents were not aware of these treatment types.
Only 19% of respondents said they had heard about immunotherapy, 29% had heard of personalized drug treatment, and 30% had heard of proton beam therapy.
The survey, which included 2081 adults, was conducted online by YouGov in June. It was commissioned by Cancer Research UK and other members of the Radiotherapy Awareness Programme.
The primary goal of the survey was to examine public awareness of radiotherapy. And the results showed that many respondents were unaware of newer, more targeted radiotherapy options.
Respondents were largely uninformed about other types of cancer treatment as well. However, of the respondents who elected to give their opinion (n=1877), most said the National Health Service (NHS) should fund chemotherapy and other drug treatments over radiotherapy.
Survey questions and responses were as follows.
Radiotherapy
Before taking this survey, which, if any, of the following types of radiotherapy had you heard of?
| Intensity-modulated radiotherapy | 4% |
| Stereotactic radiotherapy/
stereotactic ablative radiotherapy |
3% |
| Image-guided radiotherapy | 9% |
| Proton beam therapy | 30% |
| Brachytherapy | 5% |
| Radiofrequency ablation | 7% |
| Cyberknife | 4% |
| Gammaknife | 6% |
| Higgs-boson radiotherapy
(red herring option) |
6% |
| Carbon ion radiotherapy
(red herring option) |
3% |
| None of these | 50% |
| Prefer not to say | 11% |
Other cancer treatments
Which, if any, of the following specific types of cancer treatments/tests had you heard of before taking this survey?
| Immunotherapy | 19% |
| Personalized drugs | 29% |
| Monoclonal antibodies | 5% |
| High-dose chemotherapy
with stem cell transplant |
26% |
| Tablet chemotherapy | 28% |
| Molecular diagnostic tests | 6% |
| Robotically assisted surgery/Da Vinci robot | 12% |
| Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery | 39% |
| None of these | 32% |
| Prefer not to say | 11% |
NHS funding
What level of priority do you think the NHS should give to funding each of the following 4 types of cancer treatments?
| Treatment | 1st priority | 2nd priority | 3rd priority | Lowest priority |
| Chemotherapy &
other drug treatments |
57% | 29% | 10% | 4% |
| Surgery | 29% | 35% | 31% | 5% |
| Radiotherapy | 9% | 32% | 53% | 5% |
| Alternative treatments | 5% | 4% | 6% | 86% |
