title: Cancer-related false knowledge in relatives of cancer patients and the general public.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although there are many myths about cancer in Turkey, there is no study evaluating Turkish public's knowledge about cancer. The goals of our research were to: 1) measure the extent of knowledge of cancer among the Turkish public; 2) determine the differences in extent of cancer-related knowledge between participants who have relatives with cancer and those who do not; and 3) determine the sources of knowledge possessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from a total of 415 participants (244 female, 171 male), all of them sitting at the Marmara University Faculty of Medicine Hospital (MUFMH) outpatient clinic waiting area for non-cancer-related reasons. Each participant completed a 3-part questionnaire. Appropriate statistical tests were used for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 41 years. Of 415 participants, 65.3% stated that they had one or more cancer patient in their immediate family; 70.1% of the participants had a high-school education or greater. The questionnaire showed that, depending on the question, anywhere from 1.7% to 88.5% of the general public possesses some false information; furthermore, the difference in accuracy between relatives of cancer patients and non-relatives was marginal. Only 3 specific questions, related to the following ideas, rendered answers that were statistically significantly different between these 2 groups: breast cancer is only seen in females (p <0.005), cell phones cause cancer (p <0.001), and cancer is always very painful (p <0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proportion of false knowledge about cancer was unacceptably high in our cohort. Broader efforts should be made to inform the Turkish public about cancer.
authors.affiliation: Marmara University, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Turhal
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dane
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ulus
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sari
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Senturk
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bingol
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004035:Diet Therapy; D004522:Educational Status; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D011678:Punishment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television; D014421:Turkey