According to a study by Nexus – Research and Data Intelligence, disclosure of a breast cancer diagnosis by a celebrity led to a 23% increase in engagement with the topic on social media. In August, businessman Val Marchiori and Sen. Damares Alves (R-PR) announced that they had been diagnosed with the disease, sparking a debate about prevention.
The study was based on a sample of 103,200 publications and more than 19.5 million interactions on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) from January to September 2025, with August marking the second-highest engagement peak of the year with 2.6 million interactions, 23% above the monthly average. Val and Damares’ posts accounted for 36% of the total and had over 977,000 total interactions.
The next peak occurred in September, with an 88% increase in discussions and 4 million comments, likes, and shares compared to the nine-month average analyzed. The increase is thought to be due to both the response to the ad by the two Brazilians and the proximity of the Pink October campaign, which aims to raise awareness of breast cancer.
The survey also shows that Google searches for terms related to the disease, including risk factors, symptoms and testing, increased in the week of August 24, immediately following Damares and Val’s announcement. The topic reached 92 points on the Google Trends Index, making it the third highest interest level recorded between January and September.
Among platforms, Instagram was the leading place for engagement on this topic, with 17.1 million interactions or 88% of the total. OX concentrated 82% of publications, with 84.2 thousand posts. Businesspeople and senators accounted for 7% of total engagement during this period, with a total of 1.4 million interactions.
A few months ago, in June, British singer Jessie J also announced that she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Your publication accounted for 39% of the engagement that month, with approximately 654,000 interactions.
In parallel to the network monitoring, a survey conducted by Nexus in partnership with ACCamargo Cancer Center revealed that 6 out of 10 Brazilian women claim to know how to prevent breast cancer. Still, many people have difficulty distinguishing between superstition and truth about this disease.
This survey was conducted in September 2024 among 1,036 women nationwide. According to the data, 59% had already performed a self-examination, 53% had had a mammogram, but 28% had never had either, and 25% of those were women over 40, who were most at risk. Test compliance is lower among younger women, women with low incomes, and women living in northern and midwestern regions.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Brazilian women, with an estimated 73,600 new cases occurring annually from 2023 to 2025, according to the National Cancer Institute (Inca).
and Diego Alejandro, Karina Matias, Victoria Cocoro
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