Tips for Doing Your Own Cancer Research

The internet is a double-sided coin for doctors.

On the one hand, as part of the model of patient-centered care, physicians want patients to be active participants in their health care journey. Patients who Google their symptoms are obviously engaged and interested in their own care. And the internet provides those patients with more medical information than at any time in human history.

Then, of course, is the other side of the coin. The amount of information online is staggering. Google processes somewhere between 7-10 billion searches every day across 1.74 billion websites — and it’s precisely because there is so much information readily available that it presents a challenge of its own. Although it’s true that a lot of high-quality medical information is available on the web, there’s also a lot of junk science, misleading news and downright malicious content.

Obviously, we all Google our symptoms — even physicians do it. However, when the answers you get to your questions come from someone’s personal story in a blog post, or from a site that’s just a glorified advertisement for a supplement or other health product, we need to beware. Even when patients do their research carefully and find peer-reviewed and validated studies, for example, they may not understand enough about the inherent biases of the authors, or limitations of the research to see it quite the same way as someone who is steeped in the field.

So, what is the right way to go about doing your own research? Here are a few tips:

1. Medicine in the news: Popular news sources can be a great place to get medical news, However, journalists can sometimes oversimplify findings because of space limitations, or because they are not subject matter experts. Try finding the original source material — a journal article or study — to dive deeper.
2. Journal articles: One of the best places to find original research is on PubMed, which is published by the National Institutes of Health’s US National Library of Medicine. Even then, check things like the date of the study (it may not be current) or how many times it has been cited by other studies. Not all studies are created equal. 
3. Check the author’s credentials: Just like you wouldn’t hire a plumber to fix your car, you wouldn’t want someone who isn’t a health care professional to give you information about your health. Health care is based on evidence, and evidence comes from research that is performed by people who have spent years studying and learning. 
4. Listen to other patients: That said, some of the best advice about where to get research and how to do your research comes from other patients who have done THEIR research. Resources like patient.info/forums or Healthunlocked.com or even Facebook Live discussions — places where patients get together to share insights and get support. These can be valuable sources of high-quality information.
5. Develop chemistry with your physician: In the end, your biggest and best resource is your own doctor. That relationship is crucial, so it’s important to feel comfortable speaking to your physician. Once, I met with a doctor who was in and out of the exam room so fast, I barely had time to warm the seat! You should feel empowered to look around for a doctor you have good chemistry with — so that together you can make the best possible decisions for your health.