One medical doctor with more than 65,000 followers on TikTok promoted the multi-cancer early detection test to their followers, telling them: “As you get older the chance of cancer is pretty high, if you do this test yearly then you’ll pretty much catch cancer early.”.
For example, despite the science of the gut microbiome test being in its very early stages, an Instagram account with over 65,000 followers promoted the test to its followers, telling them: “You DESERVE to be healthy.
The harms of cancer overdiagnosis were most clear, Nickel said, with both the full-body MRI and multi-cancer early detection test promoted as a way to identify early forms of cancer.
The study’s lead author, Dr Brooke Nickel, said posts about these tests came from a “wide range” of account holders, from major influencers to “everyday girl-next-door” accounts, as well as news outlets, doctors and the companies making the tests.
These were full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans; genetic testing claiming to identify early signs of 50 cancers; blood tests for testosterone levels; the anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) or “egg-timer” test, which surveys a woman’s egg count; and the gut microbiome test.
