Online information analysis on pancreatic cancer in Korea using structural topic model

Inappropriate information on a deadly and rare disease can make people vulnerable to problematic decisions, leading to irreversible bad outcomes. This study explored online information exchanges on pancreatic cancer. We collected 35,596 questions and 83,888 answers related to pancreatic cancer from January 1, 2003 to May 31, 2020, from Naver, the most popular Korean web portal. We also collected 8495 news articles related to pancreatic cancer during the same period. The study methods employed were structural topic modeling, keyword frequency analysis, and qualitative coding of medical professionals. The number of questions and news articles increased over time. In Naver’s questions, topics on symptoms and diagnostic tests regarding pancreatic cancer increased in proportion. The news topics on new technologies related to pancreatic cancer from various companies increased as well. The use of words related to back pain—which is not an important early symptom in pancreatic cancer—and biomarker tests using blood increased over time in Naver’s questions. Based on 100 question samples related to symptoms and diagnostic tests and an analysis of the threaded answers’ appropriateness, there was considerable misinformation and commercialized information in both categories.