The second greatest number of cancer deaths is from colon cancer.. Every year, around forty eight thousand individuals will die because of colon cancer. A large number of these deaths could be prevented with early diagnosis and treatment through standard colon cancer testing of asymptomatic individuals.

When the cancer is detected while it is still a small polyp while undergoing a routine screening test, like a colonoscopy, the polyp can frequently be removed in the course of the colonoscopy without the need for the surgical removal of any segment of the colon. In the event the polyp becomes a tumor and reaches Stage 1 or Stage 2, the tumor and a part of the colon on each side is surgical taken out. The odds that the person will survive the cancer is over ninety percent for Stage 1 and seventy three percent for Stage 2.

By the point the cancer advancesto a Stage 3, surgery is no longer sufficient. The patient will, in addition, need to have chemotherapy. At this stage the likelihood that the individual will outlive the cancer by at least five years drops to fifty three percent, depending on such factors as how many lymph nodes that contain cancer.

By the time the colon cancer metastasizes, treatment might call for undergoing chemotherapy and perhaps other drugs along with surgery on other organs. If the measurement and quantity of tumors in other organs (such as the liver and lungs) are small enough, surgery to take out the cancer from those other organs may be the primary treatment, followed by chemotherapy. In some cases the dimensions or number of tumors in the different organs removes the choice of surgery as a treatment.

If chemotherapy and other drugs can reduce the number and size of these tumors, surgery may then turn out to be an option as the second form of treatment. Otherwise, chemotherapy and various drugs (perhaps from clinical trials) may for a time stop or lessen the ongoing spread of the cancer. With metastasis the person's possibility of outliving the cancer for more than 5 years subsequent to diagnosis drops to roughly 8%.

As the relative 5-year survival rates indicate, the time frame when the cancer is detected and treated results in a significant difference. If detected and treated early, the patient has a high likelihood of surviving the cancer. As detection and treatment is delayed, the probability starts shifting against the individual so that by the time the cancer reaches Stage III, the probability is almost 50/50. Plus the likelihood declines precipitously once the cancer metastasizes.

But, too frequently physicians fail to recommend standard cancer testing to men and women who are asymptomatic. By the time the cancer is eventually detected - sometimes because the tumor has become so large that it is resulting in blockage, since the person is anemic and it is worsening, or because the patient begins to notice other symptoms - the cancer has already advanced to a Stage 3 or even a Stage 4. The person now faces a much different prognosis than he or she would have if the cancer had been detected early by standard screening tests.

Attorneys who handle cancer cases often classify this as a "loss of chance" of a better recovery. That is to say, since the doctor failed to recommend that the individual have a routine screening test, the cancer is now considerably more advanced and the individual faces a much reduced likelihood of surviving the cancer. The failure of a physician to advise the patient have screening options for colon cancer may constitute medical malpractice.

You need to consult with an attorney at once if you think your colon cancer was not diagnosed until it had already reached an advanced stage due to a physician's failure to recommend routine colon cancer screening. This article is for general educational uses only and is not intended to be legal (or medical) advice. For any health concerns, contact a doctor. Should you think you might have a medical malpractice case you should seek professional legal counsel immediately. A competent attorney with experience in medical malpractice can assist determine if you have a claim for a delayed diagnosis colon cancer from a failure on the part of a physician to recommend colon cancer screening. There is a time limit in cases like these so do not wait to call an attorney.