Delivering prostate cancer prevention messages to the public: how the National Cancer Institute (NCI) effectively spread the word about the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) results.
The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial was the first clinical trial to show that a direct intervention (5 mg of finasteride daily for 7 years) could reduce a man's risk of developing prostate cancer. Initial results also suggested that men taking finasteride had an increased risk of developing what appeared to be higher-grade disease (Gleason score 7-10). The National Cancer Institute has a congressional mandate to communicate health information to the public and has established methods to reach the public directly and to reach information intermediaries in the media, professional societies, and advocacy groups. The groundbreaking yet complicated results of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial were widely disseminated by National Cancer Institute using the social marketing and public-relations strategies and tactics detailed here.
Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Boulevard, MSC 7315, Bethesda, MD 20892-7315, USA. smigelk@mail.nih.gov
Kara Smigel
KS
Croker
Anne
A
Ryan
Thuy
T
Morzenti
Lynn
L
Cave
Tamara
T
Maze-Gallman
Leslie
L
Ford
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003142:Communication; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018120:Finasteride / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D008297:Male; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D010344:Patient Advocacy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011639:Public Opinion; D011641:Public Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D040241:Social Marketing; D014481:United States
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018120:Finasteride