title: A "miracle" cancer drug in the era of social media: A survey of Brazilian oncologists' opinions and experience with phosphoethanolamine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients who are treating cancer have often used alternative therapies. In the internet era, information can be broadcasted widely, and this happened with phosphoethanolamine in Brazil, where this substance was claimed by the population to be the "cure for cancer."
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study developed by the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology (SBOC). An objectively structured questionnaire was sent by e-mail and SMS to active MDs members of the SBOC. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate the data. Statistical significance between the variables was tested by Pearson's Chi-squared test (p<0.05 was considered significance).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey was sent to 1,072 oncologists, and 398 (37.1%) answered at least part of it. One hundred and fifteen (28.9%) had followed patients who had used phosphoethanolamine. Among these, 14 (12.2%) observed adverse events and four (3.5%) attributed clinical benefit to the substance. Most of the oncologists (n=331; 83.2%) believe that it should only be used as part of a clinical trial protocol. Most physicians did not recommend this drug to their patients (n=311; 78.1%). Oncologists in Southeast, South and Midwest Brazil were more likely to have patients taking the drug compared to the Northern and Northeastern regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first survey to assess the opinion and experience of oncologists about this alternative therapy. Most oncologists in Brazil do not believe that synthetic phosphoethanolamine is active in cancer treatment, do not recommend its use without proper evaluation, and state that it should only be available to patients in the context of clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana Florinda M
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rêgo
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rachel P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Riechelmann
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cinthya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sternberg
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Oncologia Clínica, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001938:Brazil; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015507:Drugs, Investigational; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000072103:Oncologists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015507:Drugs, Investigational; D004983:Ethanolamines; C005448:phosphorylethanolamine