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Failure to Diagnose Cancer

Unnecessary Cancer Tests IdentifiedPosted on 4/19/2012
Could What Happened to a NY Breast Cancer Victim Happen in Georgia?Posted on 3/2/2012
Young Adult Cancer Death Rate Has Not Fallen as it Has for Other AgesPosted on 1/28/2012
Pediatric Failure to Diagnose Cancer Case to Move ForwardPosted on 1/25/2012
Avoiding Cancer Deaths: UGA Researchers Share Exciting Cancer NewsPosted on 1/16/2012

How Does Lung Cancer Spread?

A: When lung cancers are still localized, five-year relative survival rates are right around 53 percent. However, once the cancer has spread to distant areas of the body, the patient’s chances of survival drop to around 4 percent. Simply put, the spread of lung cancer can mean the difference between life and death for those battling the disease. A cancer actually spreads from one location in the body to another by a process on the cellular level.

Lung cancers often originate within a growth or tumor. Through the process of metastasis, cells from the tumor eventually break off and then travel through the body via the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Once this occurs, the cancerous cells can affect distant tissues and organs and new cancers can develop. These would be completely separate cancers, however, and would be categorized differently.

In that situation, the original lung cancer would be called the primary cancer. Any cancers which develop in distant regions of the body from the metastasis of the lung cancer would be referred to as secondary cancers. Once lung cancer has spread to these distant organs or tissues, treatment can become increasingly difficult. Cancers diagnosed in the most advanced stage have already undergone metastasis.

If you or a loved one living in Georgia has been diagnosed with lung cancer and feel your doctor failed to diagnose your disease in a timely fashion, please request a copy of our free book, I Have Cancer…Should It Have Been Caught Earlier?, or contact an experienced medical malpractice and lung cancer lawyer at the Dover Law Firm at 770-518-1133 to schedule a free consultation.

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