Diskuze v psychologii 2024, 6(1):37-44 | DOI: 10.5507/dvp.2025.006

Cancer misinformation: How alternative media create false health narratives

Viktória Sunyík*, Branislav Uhrecký
Ústav experimentálnej psychológie, Centrum spoločenských a psychologických vied v.v.i., Slovenská akadémia vied, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovensko

This paper focuses on a discourse analysis of the communication strategies used by disinformation media to present unsubstantiated, distorted, and misleading information about the causes, prevention, and treatment of cancer as trustworthy, while simultaneously casting doubt on standard medical procedures. The analysis included 14 articles from three disinformation websites. The main discursive practises identified in the analysis were: the use of categorical statements, appeals to emotion, the use of statistical and scientific terminology and appeals to authority, conspiracy narratives and the idealisation of natural treatments. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which alternative media influence perceptions of health-related topics, which may support the development of more effective communication aimed at fostering critical evaluation of health information.

Keywords: misinformation; disinformation; cancer; complementary and alternative medicine, conspiracy narratives; polarization

Received: May 2, 2025; Revised: July 23, 2025; Accepted: September 3, 2025; Prepublished online: October 20, 2025; Published: October 21, 2025  Show citation

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Sunyík V, Uhrecký B. Cancer misinformation: How alternative media create false health narratives. Diskuze v psychologii. 2024;6(1):37-44. doi: 10.5507/dvp.2025.006.
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