Incorrectly Staging Cancer

Cancer staging is an important part of the diagnosis process of any cancer. This process allows the doctors and the patient to determine what exactly needs to be done and what could be expected in the near future.

The stage of a cancer is a description as to how much the cancer has spread or been contained. When determining what stage a cancer has attained, doctors consider the size of the tumor, the depth it has assumed, invasion of adjacent organs, metastasized lymph nodes, and whether there are tumors in far-flung distant organs. Correctly staging the cancer is crucial to predicting the prognosis or survival. The stage of the cancer also has a lot of influence on what treatment is used.

Correctly staging a tumor or cancer is vital to effective treatment. Treatment is directly related to the disease’s stage. As a result, incorrectly staging the disease or tumor would lead to incorrect or improper treatment. This materially decreases the chances of a patient surviving or conquering cancer and enjoying a higher quality of life.

There are a variety of ways of staging a tumor. One way, which is particularly troublesome, is pathological staging. In this type of staging, the pathologist examines sections of tissue. The examination is done through visual discretion and cues and random sampling of tissue. “Visual discretion” means that the pathologist can identify single cancerous cells blended with healthy cells on a slide. If the pathologist misses a single cell on the slide, the cancer can be incorrectly staged and lead to serious, unexpected spread of cancer.

Contact a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you or a loved one have had cancer mis-staged, contact the Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your legal options.