"What a pyrrhic victory it would be if the health-illiterate patient is still wondering where in the human body the genes dwell, but signs the consent form anyway," remarks Dr Ranjana Srivastava, an Australian oncologist, in a recent column in the Guardian detailing her experiences with educating patients.

In an interaction with a patient who had birthed three children, Dr Srivastava realised that the woman did not know what a uterus was.

Despite advances in personalised medicine and the increasing connectedness of healthcare technology, many patients aren't bridging the gaps. In fact, they may be falling through the cracks of early health education - despite needing to access (and assess!) healthcare as adults.

Dr Srivastava describes some of the recent examples of patient beliefs that shocked or surprised her. In particular, many patients seemed confused about the causes and risks of cancer. Some women felt that their risk of cancer decreased as they got older. Another patient questioned whether genes live in any particular organ.

Dr Srivastava writes that a large proportion of adults in Western countries aren't really "informed." In one study, older women were asked to explain the probability of a flipped coin landing heads or tails - half could not answer correctly. 

"Yet we expect these women to make informed decisions about surgery for their breast cancer and understand the risk-benefit ratio of chemotherapy," Dr Srivastava says.

"No wonder, then, that the majority of patients, men and women can overestimate their benefit of chemotherapy by 20% or more."

Patient empowerment and patient education are key parts of patient advocacy. It's important for oncology researchers to remember that patients come from a diversity of backgrounds, including a spectrum of educational experiences. How can patients take control of their own health when they don't know the basics?

We agree with Dr Srivastava's conclusions that education - early, frequent, evidence-based and accessible education - is the key.

Health literacy is a responsibility shared by everyone in the healthcare continuum, from patients to healthcare professionals. And as personalised medicine and patient empowerment become increasingly important in the treatment of cancer, it's always good to remember the "patient" part of the phrase.

ecancer is committed to improving patient understanding of cancer topics. Visit http://ecancerpatient.org/ or our educational section to learn more.