Understanding Information About New Cancer Treatments
If you are considering a new cancer treatment, it can be hard to know which information to trust – especially if you aren’t a scientist or health care provider. But asking key questions can help you figure out if the information you find is reliable and relevant to you.
Understanding where the information came from and how far along the research is can help you make sense of what you find.
Where did the information come from?
Before a new medicine or device can be marketed to treat a disease like cancer, it must be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means it has to go through detailed research and clinical trials to make sure it’s safe and works well. But sometimes, news about a new treatment is shared on websites or social media long before these studies are finished and the FDA has approved it.
Signs of trustworthy information
It's a good idea to check for these signs of trustworthy information when learning about new cancer treatments.
Respected medical journals only publish peer-reviewed research. Peer review means that doctors and scientists reviewed the research to make sure the findings are valid. This process helps catch bias, conflicts of interest, or mistakes in the content.
Doctors usually give more weight to research published in peer-reviewed journals. Summary reports and guidelines created by experts from government agencies or other respected groups are also typically trusted sources of information. Research reported at medical conferences is important as well, but it often hasn’t undergone the same level of review.
Be cautious with claims from other sources, such as magazines, books, or journals that do not cite peer-reviewed data – even if written by people who claim to be experts.
Research is generally more trustworthy when it is:
- Done by researchers at universities, medical centers, or government agencies.
- Funded by federal or state funds, universities, or nonprofit groups.
It’s important to check if the funders might benefit from certain results. Biased funding doesn’t always mean a study is invalid – but it does mean you should look more closely at the data.
Major news sources generally try to provide accurate, unbiased information. They tend to have reporters and journalists who have experience covering health-related issues and who understand what’s important.
Clinical trials are used to test if new treatments are safe and work in people. They occur in stages:
- Early phases (stages 1 and 2) usually include fewer people and focus on safety.
- Later phases (stages 3 and 4) include more people and look more closely at how well a treatment works.
Even if early phase trial results look good, it doesn’t always mean the treatment will be safe and effective in larger studies.
Research from later-stage clinical trials is more reliable. Still, keep in mind that it usually takes more than one study to prove a treatment works. Sometimes, when multiple studies of a treatment are done, researchers can get different or opposite results. This is why it's important to look for information beyond one promising study result.
Warning signs to watch for
It’s a good idea to check for these warning signs of untrustworthy information when learning about new cancer treatments.
Research has shown that 1 in 3 (or more) posts on social media about medical treatments contain incorrect or even harmful information. Viral chain emails, texts, blogs, websites, and social media posts often spread exciting information without traceable sources. The content often changes over time and can be hard to verify. This type of information needs to be checked against more reliable sources.
Smaller news sources may lack reporters with experience in health reporting and may misinterpret complex research. Even respected news sources often oversimplify findings due to time or space limitations. A short article or a quick news clip usually can’t tell the full story. Headlines can be especially misleading. Avoid drawing conclusions from them alone.
Sometimes, early research done in cells or animals is reported in a way that makes it sound like the treatment already works in people, even though this hasn't been tested yet. This is why it helps to look at the full article and try to learn more about the research. Remember, a treatment that works in a lab or in animals doesn’t always work in people.
If someone tells you about what happened with a friend or someone they heard of who got better using a certain treatment, this is called anecdotal information. These second- or third-hand accounts are not as reliable as evidence from clinical trials.
People with good intentions can sometimes come to the wrong conclusion from a single person’s experience. That’s why scientists use large, controlled clinical trials to make sure a new treatment is safe and works.
Ask:
- Can you check the story and find its source?
- Is there a way to be sure that what you were told really happened? For example, do you know if the person was getting other treatments along with the newer treatment?
If you aren’t able to find research data to support a new treatment, it could be that the treatment hasn’t been put through careful clinical trials or was found not to work against cancer. This is a particular concern with many alternative therapies. If you can’t find research data, ask your cancer care team to help you find more information.
Sometimes, what looks like a news story is really a press release from an organization or a drug or device maker. Some groups promoting new findings might have a personal or financial interest in the product, which makes it hard for them to be unbiased.
This doesn’t always mean the information isn’t true. If you’re not familiar with the source of the information, do some research online.
Be aware that many companies that sell treatments online make big claims about cures that haven’t been proven to work in people. Be aware that some company websites may even use fraud – like fake quotes from doctors or claims of false ties to well-respected cancer centers.
Check:
- Who owns or funds the source?
- Do they have something to gain?
- Are there any claims supported by peer-reviewed studies?
Special considerations
Be sure to take these special considerations into account when learning about new cancer treatments.
Does the new treatment really make a difference?
Even if a study shows a clear difference between an old treatment and a new one, that difference might not matter much in real life – like if a treatment helps people live a couple of weeks longer than the old one. Even though the result is “statistically significant,” many people may not feel that a few extra weeks of life are worth it if the treatment has major side effects.
Sometimes, it’s even hard for doctors to know how helpful a treatment may be when balancing its risks and benefits. Still, if you ask your doctor about a certain treatment you’ve read about, they may be able to talk to you about whether it might be worthwhile for you.
What if the treatment isn't approved by the FDA to treat my type of cancer?
Even if a treatment hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet, you may decide that you would like to try it. If you choose to do this, talk with your doctor about the treatment. See what you can find out about how well it might work, possible side effects, drug interactions, and other effects.
If your doctor thinks it may work for you, you may still be able to access it in certain ways:
- Clinical trials: These are the main ways to access new, unapproved treatments.
- Compassionate use: This allows doctors to give an unapproved treatment under certain conditions, usually when other treatments aren’t working.
- Off-label drug use: A drug approved for one condition might be used to treat another if your doctor believes it could help.
Note: Insurance plans sometimes refuse to pay for treatments used to treat conditions for which they were not approved.
Questions to ask to understand news about new cancer treatments
- Is the source peer-reviewed or from a trusted organization?
- If a source is cited, can it be verified? Can you find this same information in several trustworthy sources?
- Who conducted the research? Who paid for it? Could they benefit from the results?
- Is the claim promoted by someone selling a product?
- Was the study done in people, not just cells or animals?
- If a clinical trial is cited, what stage is it in?
- Does the new treatment make a meaningful difference to patients?
- Has the treatment been FDA-approved or is it in clinical trials?
- Written by
- References
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Understanding cancer research study design and how to evaluate results. Accessed at cancer.net. Content is no longer available.
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Understanding the publication and format of cancer research studies. Accessed at cancer.net. Content is no longer available.
Johnson SB, Parsons M, Dorff T et al. Cancer misinformation and harmful information on Facebook and other social media: A brief report. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Jul 22; 114(7):1036-1039.
Ong J, Penm J. How to understand and interpret clinical data. PJ. 2019; 303(7927). Accessed at https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/ld/how-to-understand-and-interpret-clinical-data on July 17, 2025.
Sonbol MB, Firwana BM, Hilal T, Murad MH. How to read a published clinical trial: A practical guide for clinicians. Avicenna J Med. 2019;10(2):68-75.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Development & Approval Process: Drugs. Updated August 8, 2022. Accessed at https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs on July 17, 2025.
Last Revised: August 8, 2025
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
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