Skin Cancer Misdiagnosis

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Most skin cancers are treatable if caught at an early stage. The usual treatment is to remove the skin cancer surgically. The scarring is usually small or insignificant. Large, invasive cancers where large amounts of skin must be removed will often require a skin graft. However, if the condition is misdiagnosed or undiagnosed and left untreated in some cases it can be fatal.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

A doctor can usually diagnose a basal cell skin cancer just by looking at it. A biopsy of the area is the standard procedure to confirm the cancer diagnosis. Basal cancer is often caused by sun exposure and is rarely fatal.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cells are the main structural cells of the skin and squamous cell cancers are likely to develop in chronic sore areas, or sun damaged or scarred areas. This cancer when untreated can grow into a large sore that involves underlying tissue and in some cases can spread to other parts of the body, metastasize, to other body areas causing cancer there and become fatal. This type of cancer can begin in the mouth.

Melanoma

Melanoma begins in the pigment producing cells of the skin or the melanocytes which is the name for the pigment producing cells. This type of cancer can readily spread to other body areas and continue to grow and spread and destroy tissue. Instances of this type of cancer will run in families. Sometimes an untreated atypical mole, a “dysplastic nevi,” will later turn into a deadly melanoma cancer. A melanoma that has grown deeper into the skin than 1/32 has likely metastasized through the lymphatic system and blood vessels and chemotherapy would be needed to treat the condition.

The misdiagnosis of a tiny skin cancer can lead to huge problems. Failure to address and treat a skin cancer at an early stage can lead to severe complications and disfiguring surgical procedures that would likely have been completely preventable had timely treatment been offered and provided and pose a threat of death due to metastasized occurrences of disease adversely affecting internal organs, lymph systems and blood systems.

Getting Legal Help

If you or a member of your family has suffered a cancerous condition due to a healthcare provider’s failure to timely diagnose and treat early stage skin cancers if may be helpful to contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss the circumstances of the disease and the failure to diagnose and treat it.

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