Cancer in the movies: How Hollywood gets it all wrong

It’s likely no coincidence that brain cancer, leukemia, testicular cancer and lymphoma are among the more common cancers found in young adults, as a 1999 study on cancer in the cinema points out.

“The age distribution of cancer victims in these films does not reflect reality,” the report says. “Over half of the film cancer patients are under 30 years of age, and 75 percent are under 40. In order for films to continue to depict "clean" cancers, in young, attractive subjects, leukemia/lymphoma has become the modern movie cancer."

The average age of a person diagnosed with cancer is 67.

Movie characters are often stricken with incurable cancers. But with new and emerging treatments, such as immunotherapy, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy or bispecific antibodies, many more people are living longer than ever after a diagnosis.

“Today, many of cancers that weren't curable have become quite curable for a percentage of patients,” says Maurie Markman, MD, President of Medicine and Science for City of Hope^® Cancer Centers Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix. “Obviously, with early detection, we have a very high cure rate. How about trying to get that message out, too, that we've actually had increasing success?”

Chemotherapy is the most often depicted treatment in movies. While chemotherapy is standard of care for many cancers, movies often fail to mention new treatments, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, that are increasingly become first-line treatments for many cancers.

“Movies in the past decade did not depict this treatment modality,” researchers conclude, “suggesting a significant lag between both Hollywood and patients' perceptions of modern treatment paradigms using precision oncology.”

What movies about cancer get right

Cancer in the movies may not always be depicted accurately. But films are a good vehicle for entertaining and often heart-wrenching and emotional films.

From a medical perspective, filmmakers get very little right about cancer. But from an entertainment perspective, Hollywood has made a lot of really good movies centered on characters’ cancer journeys.

The website Ranker rates the 50 best movies about cancer. The top 10 are:

• “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014)
• “My Sister’s Keeper” (2009)
• “Five Feet Apart” (2019)
• “A Walk to Remember” (2002)
• “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” (2015)
• “50/50” (2011)
• “The Bucket List” (2007)
• “Stepmom” (1998)
• “Keith” (2008)
• “Now is Good” (2012)

How movies and TV shows influence cancer care

While movies are often not historically accurate, they may still influence viewers’ opinions on events or issues. The researchers point out how the films “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) and “Philadelphia” (1993), both based on true stories, helped to influence public opinion on racism and LGBTQ+ rights.“

Despite many movies being fictional and dramatizations in nature and intent, respectively, studies have revealed that films can potentially influence an individual's opinions and beliefs on wide-ranging issues such as HIV, mental disorders, smoking, immigration, government, and foreign countries,” they write in the JCO Oncology Practice article. “As such, cinema and movies play an integral role in society by shaping public opinion on numerous topics including cancer.”

They view the misrepresentations of cancer in films as a missed opportunity to depict the realities of the disease, its causes and risk factors, advancements in treatments and improved outcomes for patients.“

Although it is appreciable that depicting patients with incurable cancer may be integral to storylines, raising awareness of early detection particularly in cancers with approved screening could present a significant opportunity to enhance public perceptions and ultimately uptake of cancer screening,” the report says. “Furthermore, it is possible that cinematic depictions of cancer curability may influence an individual with cancer, caregivers, or family members when approaching available cancer-directed treatments and ultimately shape an individual's goals of care.”

For instance, smoking was ubiquitous in films for decades before it was linked to lung cancer and heart disease in the 1960s. Soldiers on the battlefield, wise-cracking private eyes and smooth-talking leading men were often seen with cigarettes dangling from their lips or were quick to light up a romantic interest. Yet, there was rarely, if ever, a reference to smoking being the leading cause cancer.

Actor William Talman, known as the oft-losing prosecutor on the classic TV series “Perry Mason,” was a heavy smoker and was often seen on the show with a cigarette in hand. After he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Talman appeared in an American Cancer Society ad urging people not to smoke. It first aired two weeks after he died at the age of 53.

“If you don’t smoke, don’t start,” he says. “If you do smoke, quit. Don’t be a loser.”

The researchers point out that few movies portray the financial consequences or the psychological impacts on patients. And supportive care services, palliative care or hospice care are rarely mentioned.

“The point is not to tell Hollywood how to make their movies,” Dr. Markman says, “but to have the oncology community recognize that if their patients or the families of their patients are seeing these movies, they are not getting a very accurate picture of what is happening in the oncology world today and that some education may very well be required.”

If you’re experiencing cancer symptoms or have already been diagnose with cancer and want to get a second opinion, call us or chat online with a member of our team.