Impact of Australian celebrity diagnoses on prostate cancer screening

Smith, David P; Clements, Mark S; Wakefield, Melanie A; Chapman, Simon

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb03320.x

Topics

To the Editor: In 2008, considerable publicity was given to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in two Australian celebrities: retired Australian Football League player Sam Newman and radio announcer Alan Jones. Newman’s cancer was reported on 5–9 March 2008, culminating in a 12-minute item on the high-rating Australian television program 60 Minutes, when Newman said, “Be tested and enjoy life”. Jones’s announcement of his forthcoming surgery was reported on 3–4 July 2008, and his recovery on 16–27 July. We investigated whether this publicity was associated with changes in the rate of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing.

1 Cancer Epidemiology Research Unit, Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, NSW.
2 Australian National University, Canberra ACT.
3 Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne VIC.
4 University of Sydney, Sydney NSW.

Correspondence: dsmith@nswcc.org.au

1. Horner MJ, Ries LA, Krapcho M, et al. SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2006. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute, 2009. http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/index.html (accessed Sep 2009).
2. Chapman S, McLeod K, Wakefield M, Holding S. Impact of news of celebrity illness on breast cancer screening: Kylie Minogue’s breast cancer diagnosis. Med J Aust 2005; 183: 247-250. <MJA full text>
3. Larson RJ, Woloshin S, Schwartz LM, Welch HG. Celebrity endorsements of cancer screening. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005; 97: 693-695.
4. Theobald T, Marks R, Hill D, Dorevitch A. “Goodbye Sunshine”: effects of a television program about melanoma on beliefs, behavior, and melanoma thickness. J Am Acad Dermatol 1991; 25: 717-723.
5. Andriole GL, Grubb RL III, Buys SS, et al. Mortality results from a randomized prostate-cancer screening trial. N Engl J Med 2009; 360: 1310-1319.
6. Schroder FH, Hugosson J, Roobol MJ, et al. Screening and prostate-cancer mortality in a randomized European study. N Engl J Med 2009; 360: 1320-1328.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.