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mational and emotional support from health care providers. The threats posed by the cancer diagnosis, the uncertainties in treatment outcome, and the physical and psychological hardships of cancer therapy are distressing under any circumstance, but even more so when women do not receive provider support.(1-3) Effective communication between physicians and patients leads to improved diagnosis and outcomes, greater adherence to medication regimes, increased compliance with preventive care measures, and fewer malpractice claims.(46) In addition, women with breast cancer who are adequately informed about their illness and treatment and who appropriately communicate with physicians are better able to reduce their feelings of distress.(7-9) However, communication is less than optimal and patients often find it difficult to obtain the support they need. The unfortunate consequence is greater dissatisfaction, misinformation, and misunderstanding within the clinical relationship than necessary. The emergence of the Internet has changed how patients learn about health and illness. The Internet is often the first place patients go to seek health information, advice, reassurance and support. It is estimated that more people search the Internet for health information everyday than see a doctor.(10) Indeed, health sites and discussion lists are among the most popular web destinations. An increasing number of breast cancer patients use the Internet to communicate with physicians, both directly and indirectly using email exchanges, webmessaging, or question and answer boards.(11-13) In this editorial, we describe the potential benefits of Internet-based communications between physicians and patients to meet the needs of breast cancer patients. The Internet has considerable potential to improve patients’access to physicians. It allows patients to communicate with physicians and obtain informational and emotional support without additional office visits or telephone calls. At every stage of their journey, cancer patients face many stressful situations that impact on their quality of life, such as making sense of complex medical information, making difficult treatment decisions, dealing with treatment side effects, and living with the fear of recurrence.(9) Although physicians are the preferred information resource for women with breast cancer, patients have often limited access to physicians.(14) The Internet provides additional opportunities for physicians to meet their patients’informational and emotional needs, which may in turn to reduce the disruption in their quality of life. Online communication allows patients to receive informational and emotional support from their home and possibly at times when support and access to faceto-face communication is unlikely to be available.(15) Moreover, because online communication is written and often asynchronous, both patients and physicians have more time to compose and revise messages before sending. Such time to reflect is rarely available in face-to-face interaction. This may result in a more articulate formuJournal of Breast Cancer

Potential of the Internet to Meet the Needs of Women with Breast Cancer