Social media awareness around the BRCA1 and 2 mutations' links to prostate cancer is significantly lower than public awareness around the mutations' links to breast cancer, according to a recent study published by JMIR. 

Researchers found that social media posts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube regarding the BRCA gene and genetic testing are much less prevalent than those regarding the gene's links to breast cancer.

“Our results show substantial discussion about BRCA and genetic testing on popular social networks, although with more participation and engagement for breast cancer than PCa. This corroborates previous studies showing that PCa in general has less social media engagement, and raises less funding through crowdfunding than breast cancer,” authors of the study wrote. 

TOP-LINE DATA

Researchers analyzed posts from Tweets, YouTube videos and Facebook posts over a five-year period. There were a total of 10,005 Tweets that included #BRCA and #breastcancer. Meanwhile, there were only 1,008 Tweets that included #BRCA and #prostatecancer. 

Authors also found that there were more Tweets connecting genetic testing to breast cancer than to prostate cancer. For example, there were 1,748 Tweets that included the hashtags #genetictesting and #breastcancer, and only 328 Tweets that included #genetic testing and #prostatecancer. 

There were also disparities in Facebook groups. Researchers looked at 73 Facebook groups and 80 Facebook pages. They found that the pages and groups focused on prostate cancer had fewer members and less enagement than the breast cancer groups. 

Facebook videos about prostate cancer and the BRCA gene or prostate cancer and genetic testing had more views and comments than those on YouTube. 

HOW IT WAS DONE 

Researchers characterized activity and engagement surrounding BRCA and genetic testing for prostate cancer across multiple social media platforms. 

On each social media platform, researchers searched for content that included the terms “1) #BRCA AND #breastcancer, (2) #BRCA AND #prostatecancer, (3) #genetictesting AND #breastcancer, and (4) #genetictesting AND #prostatecancer.”

The team of researchers employed the Symplur Signals platform to analyze all tweets from 2016 to 2020 that used these terms. The window analyzed was much shorter in Facebook and YouTube. Facebook groups, pages and videos, and YouTube videos, all posted from March to April 2020 were included. 

THE BACKGROUND 

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the U.S., according to the CDC. Multiple sources have shown that prostate cancer may be linked to the BRCA gene.

“Despite the importance of genetic factors in [prostate cancer] management and hereditary cancer risk, the extent of public awareness is unclear. Previous studies have shown that public awareness and social media discourse are substantially greater for breast cancer compared with [prostate cancer]; however, these studies did not investigate discussions about genetics,” authors of the study wrote.