How to Fact-Check Cancer Information — You Read Online or From AI

CDSCO is India's drug regulator and publishes information on approved medicines and their approved indications. If a treatment you have read about is not something your oncologist has mentioned, ask them directly: is this approved in India, is it recommended by NCCN or ICMR for my specific cancer and stage, and has it been used at a centre like this one. Approval alone does not mean a treatment is right for your situation — the combination of regulatory approval, guideline support, and your own biomarker and stage profile decides it.

AI tools are useful for understanding general concepts and preparing questions to ask your oncologist. They are not reliable for decisions about your specific treatment. They do not know your test results, your current medication list, or whether guidelines have changed recently — and they can state incorrect information with the same confident tone as correct information. Use AI to arrive at better questions. Let your oncologist answer them.

This is one of the most common pressures people face during treatment, and it comes from love rather than bad intent. The most useful step is to bring what your family is suggesting to your oncologist and ask two specific questions: does this interact with my current treatment, and is there any evidence it helps in my situation. Many families feel reassured when the oncologist engages with the question directly. Do not start anything new — including supplements or herbal preparations — without that conversation.

The phrase 'clinically proven' has no fixed legal or scientific meaning in most contexts and is often used in marketing. What actually matters is whether a named guidance body — NCCN, ASCO, ESMO, or ICMR — has reviewed the evidence and included the treatment in its guidelines for your cancer type. If a claim uses 'clinically proven' but does not say which body reviewed the evidence, which trial it comes from, or which patient population it applies to, treat it with caution.

ICMR and CDSCO publish Indian-context guidance and approved-drug information. NCCN, ASCO, and ESMO publish patient-facing summaries of their clinical guidelines. WHO publishes general cancer information. None of these organisations sell treatments or supplements, and their content is reviewed by clinicians. Your oncology team can also point you to specific pages relevant to your diagnosis — which is more useful than a general search.