Social Media and Rare Cancers: Stay Informed, But Tread With Caution

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Social media and the internet as a whole can offer a wealth of information and connections for patients with cancer, especially those with rarer diseases. However, patients should always bring the online advice to their health care team, says Dr. Naveen Pemmaraju.

In this episode of the “CURE® Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Dr. Naveen Pemmaraju, associate professor of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who recently conducted research on disease awareness in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Many patients with MPNs reported going to the internet to seek out information about their disease; however, many still did not know about some of the common markers of their disease. While the internet can be a great source of information, there is plenty of misinformation available, too, so it is always important that patients take what they find online and talk to their providers about it.