Colon Cancer Issues
Colon cancer is among the slowest-growing common adult tumors, with characteristics that make a missed diagnosis an ideal case for a plaintiff.
Failure to diagnose colon or rectal cancer is a common source of malpractice litigation. Frequent allegations include failure to detect cancer during colonoscopy, failure to appropriately investigate rectal bleeding or related symptoms, and failure to recommend or perform screening for colon cancer, particularly in patients over age 50.
Colon cancer is among the slowest-growing common adult malignancies. In many cases there is a prolonged premalignant phase during which polyps gradually develop, intermittently bleed, and eventually progress to cancer. Because of this slow progression—and because outcomes are often significantly improved when cancer is detected during routine screening rather than after symptoms develop—missed or delayed diagnosis cases can raise substantial questions regarding causation and prognosis.
Evaluating colon cancer litigation first requires determining when the cancer reasonably should have been diagnosed. In cases involving alleged failure to screen, that date may precede the actual diagnosis by many years. Once the probable timeframe of earlier detection is established, the next step is assessing likely tumor stage and prognosis at that earlier point in time.
In colon cancer, the liver is often the first site of metastatic spread, and the size and extent of liver metastases may provide important insight into the probable stage of disease at the time of the alleged negligence. Tumor doubling-time analysis can occasionally assist in estimating when metastasis first occurred, while prognostic tools and clinical data may help compare expected outcomes at different stages of diagnosis.
The accuracy and limitations of colonoscopy are also frequently at issue. While colonoscopy is highly effective, medical literature suggests a recognized miss rate—particularly for smaller polyps and lesions. Certain regions of the colon, including the cecum, can present additional challenges because of their complex anatomy and relative difficulty of visualization during the procedure.