Kylie Minogueʹs breast cancer: Effects on referrals to a rapid access breast clinic in the UK

We examine the effect of the announcement of Kylieʹs breast cancer on referrals to a rapid access breast clinic in the United Kingdom. General practitioner referrals were examined, concentrating on June 2005; the month following Kylieʹs diagnosis. Time series analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average modeling was used to forecast data. There was a significant increase in referrals and radiographic investigations, with no increase in the number of malignant diagnoses. It is encouraging that media campaigns appear to make women more ‘breast aware;’ however there may also be a detrimental effect with increased radiation exposure, anxiety and cancer phobia.