News stories about public figures with cancer often lack key information for readers
Key takeaways:
- Many news stories that report on public figures with cancer do not specify cancer type.
- Stories often do not include details about cancer stage, prognosis or treatments.
In 2024, both Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, and King Charles III told the world they had cancer.
After each announcement, David J. Benjamin, MD, oncologist at Hoag Family Cancer Institute in California, had patients asking him the same questions: What do you think this individual’s cancer is? What do you think their treatment is? Is it applicable to me?”
Benjamin did not have the answers, as neither Middleton nor King Charles revealed what kind of cancer they had been diagnosed with.
This can be common. Many news articles that detail cancer diagnoses of public figures do not specify the type of cancer they have, according to results of a retrospective study.
Reports often do not describe the stage of the malignancy or that individual’s prognosis, either.
“We have to acknowledge that a news article about a public figure’s cancer story is unique to them,” Benjamin told Healio. “Similarly, [for each] person that I’m taking care of in the clinic, their story is unique. There may be some things that we can glean or learn from a public figure but, in many instances, their journey with cancer will generally not be applicable to those we take care of. [We must] acknowledge that to [patients] because there’s a lot of uncertainty in these articles.”
Background
A person diagnosed with cancer could get information about the disease from a multitude of sources.
They can ask family or friends. They can search the internet. Many will turn to the media.
Benjamin estimated 20% to 25% of his patients would base their knowledge of cancer from television, movies or stories about public figures.
In a 2024 review published in JCO Oncology Practice, Benjamin and colleagues found Hollywood frequently characterizes cancer as incurable, and it often does not reference cancer type.
“We acknowledge that their job is for entertainment, but we do also recognize that Hollywood has such a big impact,” Benjamin previously told Healio. “There’s a lot of studies that show films can influence the general public’s opinions about certain topics, whether it’s race relations, psychiatric disease or HIV. This is another area where the public could be influenced.”
For their most recent study, Benjamin and colleagues wanted to know if news stories’ portrayal of public figures had similar deficiencies.
“When someone asks us, ‘What do you think about this public figure with cancer?’, we have access to the same information,” Benjamin said. “When we have had those conversations with our patients, it left everybody with a bit of uncertainty, leading to more questions than answers.”
Methods, results
Benjamin and colleagues used Google News to identify 4,135 news stories with a cancer headline that had been published between Jan. 1, 2010, and Jan. 1, 2020.
Of those, 254 specifically discussed a public figure with cancer. The articles focused on 157 total public figures (15.3% actors/actresses; 14% TV/radio newscasters; 13.4% politicians).
Cancer type remained unspecified in 14.5% of stories.
The most common cancer types mentioned included breast cancer (13.7%), glioblastoma/brain cancer (7.5%), throat cancer (5.5%), prostate cancer (5.5%), lung cancer (5.1%) and pancreatic cancer (5.1%).
Most articles did not specify stage of cancer (63%). Stage IV (22%) had the highest number of mentions, followed by recurrent disease (5.9%). Stage I (1.6%) and stage II (2%) rarely got reported.
Prognosis did not get mentioned (36.6%) in stories.
When prognosis did get specified, deceased (20.5%) had the highest rate, followed by poor (16.9%).
Cancer therapy often did not get written about (37.8%).
The most common treatments mentioned included surgery (26.4%), chemotherapy alone (7.9%) and chemotherapy and radiation together (6.3%).
Most stories (78%) did not provide educational information or mention hospice care (74%), but two-thirds (67%) included personal interviews.
Most articles did not report on costs of care (98.4%), adverse events (92.5%) or diet (90.9%).
Researchers acknowledged study limitations, such as not including TV, radio or social media reports.
‘Alleviate the stress’
It should not be expected that all news articles contain the information above.
Middleton and King Charles did not disclose their cancer types in their announcements, so news articles could not include those details.
“There are laws that protect their privacy for many valid reasons,” Benjamin said. “This is a very personal journey for any individual with cancer, no less for a public figure.”
However, Benjamin emphasized there are ways to provide a more comprehensive report without personal information.
A paragraph or two about screening could be invaluable.
“A lot of individuals we take care of in clinic — and their family members — will say, ‘This individual in the public realm was diagnosed with this cancer. Is there a way that I can avoid or possibly get screened for it?’” Benjamin said. “That may alleviate some anxiety for those who are reading the article.”
Additionally, Benjamin would like to see stories discuss how cancer is not just an acute illness.
“There are individuals, with certain types of treatment like immunotherapy or targeted treatments, who are living beyond previous expectations,” he said. “Cancer [can be] curable or managed as a long-term illness.”
Linking to established medical resources also could provide critical information for readers.
“There are a lot of great resources, especially in the U.S.,” Benjamin said. “We have American Cancer Society, which goes through a lot of these aspects of cancer — for example, what the cancer is, where it originates, the staging treatment and even long-term outcomes. Fifty percent of what we do in our field is to provide information and alleviate the stress of the unknown.”
For more information:
David J. Benjamin, MD, can be reached at david.benjamin@hoag.org.
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Benjamin DJ, et al. ESMO Real World Data Digit Oncol. 2025;doi:10.1016/j.esmorw.2025.100119.