What the Latest Study of Early Breast Cancer Detection Shows
Medical data was compiled from about 174,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1999 and 2012. The information, which was gathered from the Netherlands Cancer Registry, showed that women whose breast cancer had been detected after it had spread to their lymph nodes had a lower survival rate than women with no cancer in their lymph nodes.
Furthermore, it showed that the survival rate of women who had larger invasive breast tumors when they were diagnosed was lower than that for women who were diagnosed when their breast tumors were smaller and less invasive.
There’s something unfolding in the medical industry that every woman in the St. Louis area ought to know about, specifically if you have a history of breast cancer in your family.
Doctors have always felt that early detection tests for breast cancer help to save thousands of lives each year. For quite some time, The American Cancer Society’s has been encouraging health care providers to take advantage of these tests. Now a new report confirms the significance of early breast cancer detection.
According to researchers in the Netherlands, early detection of breast cancer can actually make a big difference in a breast cancer patient’s outcome. But, as with any new development in the medical field, this may fly in the face of some previously held beliefs.
What This Means for Missouri Breast Cancer Patients
The results of the study imply that delayed diagnosis of breast cancer may result in considerable harm to the affected individual, and in some cases prove to be fatal.
While previous studies had concluded that improved treatment of breast cancer, not early detection, had the biggest effect on breast cancer survival rates, this study implies that the early detection of breast cancer does make a huge difference in a patient’s chance for long-term survival. For this reason, more than 80 percent of Dutch women are now getting screened for breast cancer on a regular basis.
How We Aid Breast Cancer Patients
In 2015, it was estimated that more than 234,000 Americans would be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, 2,300 of those being men. If you happen to be a breast cancer patient whose diagnosis was delayed or incorrect, you may have grounds to seek compensatory damages from your health care provider.
You should consider sitting down with a qualified medical malpractice attorney if you believe that a medical practitioner is guilty of either:
- Failing to recommend or perform screening tests
- Administering the screening tests improperly
- Misreading the results of a screening test
- Failing to recognize symptoms that indicate the presence of breast cancer
- Making errors in the testing laboratory that lead to a misdiagnosis
We can help you to determine if and against whom you can file a malpractice claim or lawsuit for the delayed or misdiagnosis of your breast cancer.
Contact Carey, Danis & Lowe today and have an experienced and knowledgeable Missouri medical malpractice attorney review your case and advise you of your right to file a lawsuit or claim for damages. Call (314) 725-7700 or fill out our online contact form. We will meet with you at your convenience for a free consultation to discuss your options.
