What Happens When Physicians Do Not Observe Colon Cancer Screening Protocols
Colon cancer is the second leading reason for deaths from cancer
. Each year, about 48,000 individuals will pass away as a result of colon cancer. A large number of these fatalities might be avoided with early detection and treatment through routine colon cancer testing before symtoms develop.
When the disease is detected as a small polyp while undergoing a regularly scheduled screening procedure, like a colonoscopy, the polyp might be able to be taken out in the course of the colonoscopy. At this point, there is no need for the surgical removal of any segment of the colon. Once the polyp grows to the point where it becomes cancerous and gets to Stage I or Stage II, the tumor and a portion of the colon on both sides is surgical taken out. The relative 5-year survival rate is over 90% for Stage I and seventy three percent for Stage 2.
If the disease reaches Stage III, surgery is no longer sufficient. The patient will, in addition, need to have chemotherapy. The relative 5-year survival rate drops to 53%, depending on such factors as the quantity of lymph nodes that show up positive for cancer.
Once the colon cancer metastasizes, treatment may require undergoing chemotherapy and possibly other drugs as well as surgery on various organs. In case the measurement and quantity of tumors in other organs (like the liver and lungs) are small enough, surgery to get rid of the cancer from those other organs might be the first treatment, followed by chemotherapy. Sometimes the size or quantity of tumors in the other organs takes away the option of surgery as a treatment.
If chemotherapy and other drugs are able to lower the number and size of these tumors, surgery may at that point turn out to be a viable follow up treatment. Otherwise, chemotherapy and other drugs (perhaps from clinical trials) might for a time halt or reduce the ongoing progression of the cancer. With metastasis the person's likelihood of outliving the cancer for greater than 5 years subsequent to diagnosis is reduced to approximately 8%.
The statistics are clear. The time frame wherein the colon cancer is found and treated makes a significant difference. If diagnosed and treated early, the patient has a high likelihood of surviving the disease. As diagnosis and treatment is delayed, the odds begin shifting from the person so that once the colon cancer reaches the lymph nodes, the probability is almost 50/50. Further the odds drop precipitously when the colon cancer metastasizes.
Yet, too frequently doctors do not advise routine cancer screening to men and women who are asymptomatic. When the cancer is ultimately diagnosed - many times due to the fact that the tumor has grown so large that it is resulting in blockage, since the individual is anemic and it is worsening, or since the patient begins to detect other indications - the colon cancer has already advanced to a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The individual now confronts a very different outlook than he or she would have if the cancer had been discovered early by routine screening tests.
Attorneys who handle cancer cases often refer to this as a loss of chance of a better recovery. That is to say, because the doctor did not recommend that the person undergo routine screening test, the cancer is now considerably more advanced and the person faces a much reduced chance of outliving the cancer. A physician may be liable for not meeting the standard of care if he or she fails to recommend cancer screening to a patient who later is found to have advanced colon cancer.
by: Joseph Hernandez
NUEDEXTA IS FIRST AND ONLY FDA-APPROVED TREATMENT FOR PSEUDOBULBAR AFFECT Truths About Mesothelioma Sinus Congestion Treatment And Natural Sinus Congestion Relief How to find the Right Spider Veins Treatment Sinusitis Treatment Options Treatment Of Vital Pulp Conditions What Is Asbestos? Common Forms Of Treatment For Varicose Veins Discover Which Halitosis Treatment Is Best To Eliminate Bad Breath Some Of The Best Natural Treatments For Heartburn The Best Treatments And Remedies Available For Poison Ivy Angelina Jolie search for cancer cure has been futile UNTIL NOW What to do when you are diagnosed with mesothelioma