Utah Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

All forms of cancer are progressive and incurable, although they may be treatable. If they are not diagnosed in a timely fashion, they grow and spread, becoming more severe and life-threatening. If they are diagnosed early, they can often be surgically removed, radiated, or managed with medications. A missed cancer diagnosis can be grounds for a medical malpractice suit.

Cancer Staging
Cancer is assessed in four Stages according to a system called TNM Classification:

• T ? the size of the primary tumor
• N ? how much, if at all, it has spread into the lymph nodes

• What is lymph?

Lymph is a clear body fluid in between cells and has its own circulatory system (the lymphatic system). It is not pumped like blood but moved by skeletal muscles contracting. It keeps body cells freshly bathed in fluid and carries fatty acids into the blood system.

Lymph also carries cancer cells, and this is how a cancer metastasizes. Lymph vessels run and branch throughout the body, punctuated with lymph nodes, tiny bean-shaped organs, which filter the lymph, trapping foreign particles. The nodes contain white blood cells and are part of the body?s immune system.

• M ? metastasis (how much the cancer has spread to other body organs, if at all)

Diagnosis is preferably done in Stage 1, when treatment will be most successful and preductions most reliable.

How is Cancer Diagnosis Done?
When the cancer is diagnosed, it may have already metastasized. So the primary site must be located. Cancer can begin anywhere in the body except in the hair, teeth, and fingernails. By establishing the primary site, predictions can be made as to how the cancer will behave and what symptoms it will likely cause.

Secondary sites are those to which the cancer has spread. It may have entered the bloodstream, the lymph, or may have directly spread to a nearby organ.

However, each cancer is defined and described in terms of its primary site. For example, breast cancer may spread into the lymph system or into the lungs, but it is still considered as breast cancer.

Cancer is diagnosed using a variety of tests and imaging methods. Preferably, a biopsy is done (cancer tissue is taken from the body to be tested). By gathering information about the cancer cells, a physician can determine the primary site, even if the tissue was taken from a secondary site. Once the diagnosis is established, appropriate treatment can be planned.

If you or a loved one has had a missed cancer diagnosis, you may well have a valid legal claim. If you have lost a loved one because cancer was not diagnosed until a late Stage, you may have a wrongful death claim.

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