Most Breast Cancer Web Pages Contain Reliable Information

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Overall, there were 41 inaccurate statements on 18 Web pages (5.2 percent), although complementary or alternative medicine pages were 15.6 times more likely to contain false information.

But the quality criteria did not sift the good from the bad Web sites, the researchers said.

"Many of these quality criteria that have been proposed do not allow us to select out inaccurate from accurate Web sites," Meric-Bernstam said.

The Internet can be a useful resource, but relying exclusively on the Web for health information isn't a good idea, the experts said.

"Just because you read something doesn't mean it's right," Brooks said. "I tell my patients, 'You're going to look things up. I can't stop you, but you're paying me to sort through information and give you advice. You're paying for professional expertise.' Knowing something doesn't mean you know how to make it work."

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has a guide to searching the Web.