Cancer information and media: ethical and deontological aspect

Public information in medicine - including oncology - is not new and is gro wing with the development of the media. The majority is news preferably spe ctacular for the entertainment of the reader or viewer; there are some revi ews and also educative papers or programs in specialized journals. Often th is information is given or sponsored by private interests which are not alw ays clear and which do not always have public interest in mind. All medical information may be easily accessible, especially if it is useful for the p eople concerned. It must be independent, genuine, clear Physicians may play an important role in health education for the general public and for speci al patients. They have to give proved data, in an understandable form, with caution, keeping in mind the interest of informed persons.