Baldassarre Andrew J, Palmer Amitabha
University of Houston, USA.
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, USA.
J Cancer Policy. 2025 Jun;44:100591. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2025.100591. Epub 2025 May 10.
Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) in cancer care influences patient decisions but often targets vulnerable populations. Despite established ethical guidelines, adherence remains understudied. This study evaluates how well top U.S. cancer centers comply with these standards in television advertisements.
We analyzed 31 TV ads from 2019 to 2024 produced by members of the top 20 cancer centers as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, comparing them against ethical guidelines from the American Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and others. Two independent reviewers categorized ads as compliant, borderline, or transgressive. Transgressive ads explicitly violated guidelines, while borderline cases contained ambiguous claims with at least one problematic interpretation.
Of the 31 ads from 12 institutions, 16 (52 %) were either transgressive or borderline. Only 4 of 12 (33 %) institutions produced exclusively compliant ads. Common issues included unrealistic expectations (36 %), implying exclusive treatment availability (13 %), and unclear eligibility criteria (13 %). Notably, institutions ranked in the top 10 produced 71 % of the ads and were responsible for 8 of 9 transgressive cases.
The prevalence of transgressive advertising suggests that ethical guidelines alone are insufficient. Potential solutions include increasing awareness among marketing leadership and enforcing compliance, possibly as a hospital accreditation requirement. Policy Summary: As cancer care continues to advance and treatment options become more complex, ensuring advertising practices adhere to extant ethical guidelines is crucial for supporting informed patient decision-making and maintaining public trust in healthcare institutions.
癌症护理中的直接面向消费者的广告（DTCA）会影响患者的决策，但往往针对弱势群体。尽管已有既定的道德准则，但对其遵守情况的研究仍不足。本研究评估了美国顶尖癌症中心在电视广告中对这些标准的遵守程度。
我们分析了美国新闻与世界报道排名前20的癌症中心成员在2019年至2024年期间制作的31个电视广告，并将它们与美国医学协会、美国临床肿瘤学会等的道德准则进行比较。两名独立评审员将广告分类为合规、临界或违规。违规广告明确违反了准则，而临界情况包含模棱两可的说法，至少有一种有问题的解释。
在来自12个机构的31个广告中，16个（52%）为违规或临界广告。12个机构中只有4个（33%）制作的全是合规广告。常见问题包括不切实际的期望（36%）、暗示独家治疗可用性（13%）和资格标准不明确（13%）。值得注意的是，排名前十的机构制作了71%的广告，并且9个违规案例中有8个是由它们造成的。
违规广告的普遍存在表明仅靠道德准则是不够的。潜在的解决方案包括提高营销领导层的意识并加强合规，可能作为医院认证的一项要求。政策摘要：随着癌症护理的不断进步以及治疗选择变得更加复杂，确保广告行为符合现行道德准则对于支持患者做出明智决策以及维持公众对医疗机构的信任至关重要。
