Cancer Misdiagnosis

The way the compensation process works means that there can be vast differences in the amounts patients receive. For instance, if a doctor misdiagnosed cancer which resulted in the disease becoming untreatable before it was discovered, this patient is likely to receive a greater sum than a patient who experiences a delay in cancer diagnosis and now requires treatment over a longer period of time.

If you decide to bring a medical negligence claim because you have received poor cancer treatment the amount of compensation you could be awarded depends upon your individual circumstances. Factors that impact upon the amount of compensation include  additional pain and suffering caused, as a result of the delay in diagnosis or treatment and financial costs you have experienced; such as going back to work later than you would have liked, being less able to look after you family, needing changes to your home or even car. When you choose to work with Your Legal Friend, our experts and specialist medical negligence lawyers will take the time to fully understand your experience analysis the evidence and instruct the best experts to investigate your case. While it’s impossible to give you an amount without fully understanding your cases, you can talk to one of our advisors to learn more and take the next steps. 

Identifying the ‘date of knowledge’ can be confusing. For some people it will be a simple process to pinpoint but in other cases it can be quite complex. If you’re unsure whether you can take a claim forward and how long you have left to do so, speaking to a legal professional can help. Backed by experience of working on medical negligence claims, our team can help you understand your misdiagnosed cancer case. We’ll take the time to listen to your experiences and help you identify both if you have a case that can be brought forward and when you must do it by.

While you have a maximum of three years to start your claim in Court it’s often advisable to start the process sooner.

We know that after discovering you have cancer, undergoing treatment, or recovering, bringing a medical negligence claim will be the last thing on your mind. But taking action and seeking professional advice sooner can help improve your chances of success. Every case needs to be supported by factual evidence and this will typically include a witness statement from you. Doing this part of the claims process as close to the ‘date of knowledge’ as possible means that the history of your symptoms, the detail about your experience are clearer. Other evidence, such as medical records, scan and investigations will be easier to obtain too.

Despite this, it’s estimated that around 42% of cancer cases in the UK are preventable, in some cases this is linked to lifestyle choices. The biggest lifestyle factor that can lead to cancer is smoking. Other issues include obesity, poor diet, consuming too much alcohol, and not protecting the skin from the sun.

• Causes

Causes of cancer vary depending on the type of cancer diagnosed. As well as lifestyle choices there are other potential causes too, including exposure to radiation and certain chemicals that may be found in the workplace, such as asbestos. Being exposed to a cause of cancer, for instance if you smoke, doesn’t necessarily mean that the disease will develop.

• Risk factors

Risk factors don’t cause cancer but can indicate that a person is more likely to develop the disease. Risk factors vary between the types of cancers but can include inherited faulty genes, pre-existing medical conditions, and ageing. While having risk factors of cancer does mean you’re more likely to develop cancer, in many cases those diagnosed don’t have any known risk factors.

• Possible risk factors

You may also hear about possible risk factors. These are factors that have been linked to cancer but more research and evidence is needed to support the claims.

A swift diagnosis often relies on the doctor considering cancer as a differential diagnosis at your first appointment.  That doctor would need to recognise that your symptoms could be more sinister and ordering tests to rule out other causes. If your GP doesn’t conduct the necessary examinations, order the necessary tests to start the diagnosis process, or link the cancer signs to the disease; a delay in cancer diagnosis can happen. As a result, misdiagnosed cancer can have serious complications, for instance, more drastic surgery being required to completely remove the tumour, radiotherapy that could have been avoided or longer courses of chemotherapy.

Cancer misdiagnosis can also occur in other ways too. For instance, if the necessary tests for an accurate diagnosis are read incorrectly, or if abnormalities in results are not followed up. These examples of how misdiagnosed cancer can occur are due to medical negligence and those affected may be able to make a misdiagnosis of cancer compensation claim.

The type of cancer you are diagnosed with

According to Cancer Research UK the survival rates for different cancers are huge, ranging from 98% for testicular cancer to just 1% for pancreatic cancer. Across the most common types of cancers in the UK, most have a ten-year survival rate of 50% or more.

While there are large variances in the types of cancer it’s important to note that typically the most common types of cancer have had more research and funding for treatments. As a result, more than 80% of patients that are diagnosed with cancer in the UK have a form of cancer that is easier to diagnose or treat with a greater chance of patients surviving their diagnosis by at least a decade.

The grade of cancer at diagnosis

If you’ve been diagnosed with any form of cancer it should then be graded, which may involve further testing. Grading the cancer means assessing how abnormal the cancerous cells are when compared to normal, healthy cells. The grade given gives medical professionals an indication of how the cells may behave and how aggressive the cancer is, although this acts as an indicator rather than an exact prediction.

Typically, cancer is graded 1, 2, or 3, with 1 indicating the cells in the tumour are similar to normal cells and growing slowly, while 3 suggests that the cancerous cells are very abnormal and are growing rapidly. Cancer that is graded lower is typically easier to treat and therefore survival rates tend to be higher.

Whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body

If cancer has spread to other parts of the body it can make treatment more complex and in some cases a complete cure may not be possible. However, even where a cure isn’t possible treatment to control and relieve symptoms can be used and in some cases patients can live for years following an untreatable diagnosis.

After an initial diagnosis, cancer is staged. The stages indicate how large the tumour is and whether it has affected surrounding tissue or other parts of the body. There are several staging systems but a common one has 4 numbered stages. Stage 1 usually means that the cancer is relatively small and contained, while stage 4 means the cancer has spread beyond where it started, affecting other organs. Survival rates are higher when the cancer is diagnosed in the earliest stage.

The age of the patient at diagnosis

The age of the patient when they are diagnosed also has an impact on survival rates. In adults, the success of treatment tends to gradually fall as people get older.

The effect of undiagnosed and untreated cancer on the body will depend upon factors, such as the type of cancer that has developed and how aggressive the tumour is. If your cancer was not diagnosed until later stages, and it could have been treated earlier you may be able to make a compensation claim if you can prove that medical practitioners missed opportunities to make an earlier diagnosis.

If a family member has died as a result of a delay in diagnosing and treating cancer it is possible for their relatives or dependents to bring a claim for their death. Examples of these include:

• A widow securing compensation after her husband was told cancer was not causing his symptoms after an inadequate examination. The fatal delay meant that the patient died 4 years later because the period where treatment could have been successful had passed by the time a diagnosis had been achieved.
• A widower won thousands in compensation after his wife’s cancer was dismissed as ‘swimmer’s ear’ for two years. An investigation found that had the cancer been diagnosed sooner the patient would have had a 90% chance of surviving.
• One widow’s husband died just eight months from cancer after being given the all clear by medical professionals. Following an operation shortly before the death, medics discovered three tumours that should have been detected a year earlier.
• One woman’s cancer remained undiagnosed despite two opportunities and tests to detect cancer and meant that by the time a diagnosis was secure the tumour has become inoperable. The female was initially told that a lump growing in her breast was benign.
• A female with a rare form of uterus cancer was not diagnosed until it was far too late to operate and treat the disease, despite making 58 visits to the doctors in just five months. Those responsible for her care failed to refer her to a specialist.

Despite the number of cancer cases in the UK rising, the good news is that earlier diagnosis, screening programmes, better tests and new treatments mean that more people are beating cancer than ever before. In fact, in the last ten years alone the death rates of cancer have fallen by almost 10%.

Medical pioneers are continuing to develop new tests and treatments, some of which are available for those diagnosed with the disease to try. It’s likely that in the coming years the number of people that die as a result of cancer will fall even further. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is for three-quarters of patients to survive their disease by 2034.

You may have a strong claim for clinical negligence if the standard of appropriate care fell below expectation due to:

• Misinterpretation of scans, smear slides or biopsies
• Failure to realise the importance of your complaints
• Delayed referral for further tests
• Missed, delayed or misdiagnosis of cancer type, stage or other complications

• Lost or misplaced medical records.

Trying to come to terms with how a ‘standard’ clinical procedure failed is not always easy and finding out the reasons why this happened can sometimes be complicated.

Advances in screening and the detection techniques of smear tests, scans and biopsies to detect cancer have significantly improved the interpretation of results, diagnoses and treatments. Their use by doctors to make an early and accurate diagnosis is crucial to extending life expectancy.

If the results of the test show any suspicious signs, such as inflammation, or are actually cancerous:

• A repeat smear should be taken after several months, or
• Your GP or doctor should arrange a referral to a specialist gynaecologist.

A ‘false positive’ is... where normal cervical cells are diagnosed as abnormal or cancerous.

As cervical cancers can take up to 10 – 12 years to develop, if abnormal cells are missed during one smear test, they will probably be found on a subsequent test.

Ultrasound scans - used to determine the exact location of a tumour, for planning radiotherapy and as a guide for biopsies and pain reduction procedures.

Bone scans - involve injecting into the vein a radioactive dye that is absorbed in a greater quantity by an abnormal bone and shows up on the scan as highlighted areas.

The results of an image scan can only be properly acted upon if ‘read’ correctly by an experienced doctor or specialist. It is therefore vital that all scans are examined and reviewed by experts in their field who can correctly interpret the images and advise the patient as to the appropriate next steps and subsequent treatment.

Other types of biopsies:

Excisional biopsy - an entire lump or suspicious area is removed.

Needle aspiration biopsy - a sample of tissue or fluid is taken with a needle.