CAM information online: an audit of Internet information on the "Bill Henderson Protocol".

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to identify and describe online information about a complementary and alternative dietary intervention for cancer treatment, the Bill Henderson Protocol.

DESIGN

A scoping method was applied to the Internet to identify information available on the Bill Henderson Protocol. Using the advanced search option, "Google," "Yahoo" and "Alta Vista" were used to search for the phrase "Bill Henderson Protocol."

MAIN OUTCOMES

Information was found on 79 web pages. Most of the information took the form of personal commentaries and anecdotes, and included both positive and negative reports. Information was frequently found about different components of the protocol, but only one webpage provided complete details on what the regimen entails. Frequently, links were provided to Bill Henderson's website, where further protocol information could be found, including the opportunity to purchase his book. No empirical evidence was found.

CONCLUSIONS

This study summarized information available on the Internet for the Bill Henderson Protocol an alternative dietary intervention intended to be used by people with cancer as a potentially curative treatment. The results of this study illustrate that new treatment interventions can be proposed, disseminated, discussed and used by consumers in advance of definitive evidence regarding efficacy and safety. This has implications for physician-patient interactions.