Opportunities and Challenges for Internet based Information Dissemination in Cancer Prevention

Internet through the facilitation of information dissemination has high effect on disease prevention and health promotion. Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the world. The total number of cancer cases is rising. Therefore, strengthen prevention in cancer care facilities to reduce health damages and costs have become a priority. Several studies have shown that Internet can be effective in preventing cancer. According to statistics, users of the Internet have been growing and due to the importance of information on cancer prevention, the development of the Internet based programs in this regard appear to be necessary. This is a review of the Pubmed database and Google search engine with the keywords cancer, prevention, internet, collected related studies of the last 10 years. It discusses the importance of the Internet information on cancer prevention, the importance of easy access, Iran experience in this subject, the present potential and challenges. Results showed that the most effect of online resource in the prevention of cancer is lifestyle change. Further research is recommended to develop programs to overcome challenges and use of opportunities.