Pancreatic cancer might be predicted by web searches

Pancreatic cancer might be predicted by web searches


A person’s web search history can reveal a lot. Someone who looks up lots of recipes probably enjoys cooking. Queries for hotels in California mean someone might be planning a trip. Searches about basset hounds may reveal a favorite dog breed.

Increasingly, public health experts are finding ways to use Internet search histories to unearth health trends. Researchers writing in the Journal of Oncology Practice believe web searches can point to people who may have pancreatic cancer, even before a diagnosis.

In partnership with Microsoft, researchers from the software firm and Columbia University began by identifying Internet users whom they believed had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, based on specific searches such as “Why did I develop pancreatic cancer?” They then analyzed other searches done from the same Internet address.

The study found that people who submitted an Internet query about pancreatic cancer were likely to also have searched over the course of several months for information about various symptoms that are sometimes found in prostate cancer. Those searches included queries about yellowing skin, blood clots, dark stool, changes to sense of taste and other topics.

The researchers say online surveillance systems that could recognize such search patterns might help identify emerging health problems, perhaps giving people earlier opportunities to fight a devastating disease. Of course, the users and those running the systems would need to agree on when and how the users are alerted about certain search patterns.

Such notice could be crucial for people who do have pancreatic cancer, a disease with frequently low survival rates after diagnosis. One key to boosting longevity for this deadly disease might just be out there in cyberspace.

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