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Not Following The Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines May Delay Diagnosis
When the cancer is found while it is still a small polyp in the course of a regularly scheduled screening test, like a colonoscopy, the polyp can generally be taken out in the course of the colonoscopy. At this point, there is no need for the surgical removal of any portion of the colon. When the polyp becomes a tumor and reaches Stage 1 or Stage 2, the tumor and a section of the colon on both sides of the tumore is surgical taken out. The odds that the individual will survive the cancer is over 90% for Stage I and seventy three percent for Stage II. By the point the cancer advancesto a Stage 3, a colon resection is no longer sufficient. The individual will, furthermore, need to have chemotherapy. At this stage the likelihood that the person will outlive the cancer by at least five years falls to 53%, depending on such factors as how many lymph nodes that contain cancer. By the time the colon cancer gets to the fourth Stage, treatment may require chemotherapy and possibly other drugs along with surgery on multiple organs. If the size and number of tumors in other organs (for example, the liver and lungs) are sufficiently few, surgery on these organs may be the primary treatment, then chemotherapy. Sometimes the dimensions or number of tumors in the different organs removes the possibility of surgery as a treatment. If chemotherapy and additional drugs can reduce the quantity and dimensions of these tumors, surgery may at that point turn out to be an option as the second form of treatment. If not, chemotherapy and various drugs (possibly through clinical trials) might temporarily halt or cut down the ongoing spread of the cancer. The relative 5-year survival rate falls to roughly eight percent. The statistics are clear. The time frame when the cancer is detected and treated makes a significant difference. If discovered and treated early, the individual has a high likelihood of surviving the cancer. When diagnosis and treatment is delayed, the chances start shifting against the person so that if the colon cancer advances to Stage III, the percentage is almost 50/50. And the odds drop greatly once the colon cancer metastasizes. But, all too often physicians fail to recommend standard cancer testing to men and women who are asymptomatic. When the cancer is finally found - sometimes because the tumor has become so large that it is resulting in blockage, since the patient has unexplained anemia that is worsening, or because the individual starts to detect other indications - the cancer has already advanced to a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The person now faces a very different prognosis than if the cancer had been detected early by routine screening tests. Attorneys who handle cancer cases often refer to this as a “loss of chance” of a better recovery. In other words, because the doctor did not advisev that the individual have a routine screening test, the cancer is now considerably more advanced and the individual faces a much lower likelihood of outliving the cancer. The failure of a doctor to advise the individual have screening options for colon cancer might constitute medical malpractice. You should contact a lawyer without delay if you think there was a delayed diagnosis of colon cancer due to a doctor’s failure to recommend routine colon cancer screening. This article is for general educational purposes only and is not intended to be legal (or medical) advice. For any health issues your should consult with a doctor. If you think you may have a medical malpractice case you should seek professional legal counsel right away. A competent attorney experienced in handling cancer claims can assist determine if you have a claim for a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer due to a failure on the part of a doctor to recommend colon cancer screening. There is a time limit in cases like these so do not wait to call an attorney. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases and wrongful death cases. You can learn more about cases involving advanced colon cancer and other cancer matters including stage 4 breast cancer by visiting his website |
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