How can I find reliable information about breast cancer?

Breast Cancer Now’s information is written by our clinical specialists and reviewed by experts to ensure it’s accurate and up to date. It’s also reviewed by people who’ve been affected by breast cancer before it’s published.

Find out more about our standards for producing health information.

What is misinformation?

Misinformation is false information that’s shared by someone who believes it’s true.

Misinformation example

Someone you know has shared a social media post about things that can increase your risk of getting breast cancer, but the information isn’t right. They want to raise awareness, but they haven’t fact-checked the post or looked into who posted it.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation is false information that’s shared to deliberately mislead people. 

Disinformation example

You get an email about a special diet that can help stop breast cancer from spreading. When you get to the end of the email, you see that it came from a company that sells recipe books and training courses on the diet. They’re deliberately spreading false information so people will buy their products.

When you ask a search engine a question, you often get an AI summary of the results at the top of the page. This can be helpful if you’re trying to get a general overview of a topic. But how do you know if what it says is accurate?

AI summaries find their answers by searching the internet and can’t always tell which websites have reliable information. That means they can pick up all the same misinformation and disinformation that a person can.

AI chatbots (like ChatGPT or Claude) work by predicting what word comes next. If they don’t know the answer to your question, they will sometimes guess, which can also lead to wrong answers.

If you’re using AI summaries or asking AI chatbots for information about breast cancer, make sure you follow the steps below to check you’re getting accurate information.

Hospital letters and AI

Some people have asked our nurses whether it’s OK to put hospital letters into AI chatbots to make them easier to understand.

This can be helpful, but remember to check any information it gives you using the steps below.

And always remove all personal information – like your name, address, contact details or any medical information that could be used to identify you. AI chatbots aren’t designed to process confidential information, and some AI companies use the data people put into the chatbots for training purposes.

If you don’t understand a letter from your breast cancer treatment team, it’s best to contact them directly to ask any questions you have. Your GP may also be able to help you.

1. Check the source

Make sure the information comes from a reliable source, like the NHS or a recognised health charity.

If you’re not sure if a website is a reliable source, look for the Patient Information Forum (PIF) Tick. This symbol shows that the organisation has been verified as a trustworthy provider of health information.

We’ve got the PIF Tick at Breast Cancer Now. This means we’re regularly assessed by PIF to make sure our information is up to date, based on medical evidence and written with readers in mind.

2. Find the research

If the information mentions medical research to back up its claims, try to find the original study, or details about that study from a reliable source.

It could be that the information hasn’t represented the results correctly, either to make the article more attention-grabbing or simply because the writer has misunderstood.

Cancer Research UK has tips on specific things to look out for when reading about research.

3. Look for red flags

Reliable health information will be straightforward, factual and balanced. Watch out for information that:

• Makes big claims (for example, about miracle cures for cancer)
• Is based on a personal story instead of scientific evidence
• Is one-sided or biased (for example, because it's selling something)

If you've got questions about breast cancer or breast health, call our helpline or send us a message to speak to one of our nurses. See below for ways to get in touch.