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Cancer Misdiagnosis- Second Opinion?
According to the research linked and excerpted below, the rate of cancer misdiagnosis is 11.1%. This finding varies by type of cancer but 11% is a reasonable percentage to use for this blog post.
I am not writing this post to criticize oncology. Diagnosing cancer in the human body can be difficult. I’m simply making the point that newly diagnosed cancer patients should be aware that they should get a second opinion to confirm their diagnosis of cancer.
For every 1000 people reading this post, approximately 110 of them will experience a cancer misdiagnosis. That is a lot of anxiety, fear, depression, etc. that didn’t need to happen.
I was diagnosed with a type of pre-cancer called single plasmycytoma of bone in early 1994. Less than 12 months later my SPB became full blown multiple myeloma. I’m confident that my my diagnosis of a SPB was a misdiagnosis. I’ll never be able to prove this and I had no idea what was going on at the time.
A second opinion may have exposed Dr. Berger’s misdiagnosis and started my therapy plan a year earlier.
Are you a newly diagnosed cancer patient? What type of cancer? What symptoms are you experiencing? Let me know- David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com
Thanks
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Rate of diagnostic errors and serious misdiagnosis-related harms for major vascular events, infections, and cancers: toward a national incidence estimate using the “Big Three”
“Results– Rates for the 15 diseases were drawn from 28 published studies representing 91,755 patients. Diagnostic error (false negative) rates ranged from 2.2% (myocardial infarction) to 62.1% (spinal abscess), with a median of 13.6% and an aggregate mean of 9.7%.
Serious misdiagnosis-related harm rates per incident disease case ranged from 1.2% (myocardial infarction) to 35.6% (spinal abscess), with a median of 5.5% (IQR 4.6–13.6) and an aggregate mean of 5.2%. Rates were considered face valid by domain experts and consistent with prior literature reports.
Conclusions
Diagnostic improvement initiatives should focus on dangerous conditions with higher diagnostic error and misdiagnosis-related harm rates…
Overall diagnostic error rates in real-world practice are not known, but a commonly cited estimate based on expert opinion is that 10–15% of all rendered diagnoses are incorrect [2]…
Table 5:
Severity-weighted, disease-specific diagnostic error and serious misdiagnosis-related harm rates.
| Cancer | ||||
| Lung cancer | 22.5% (PR: 11.4–37.8) | 2.01 | 61.9% (56.8–67.2) | 13.9% (7.0–23.6) |
| Melanoma | 13.6% (PR: 6.8–25.0) | 1.34 | 41.2% (37.8–44.8) | 5.6% (2.8–10.3) |
| Colorectal cancer | 9.6% (PR: 8.4–47.7) | 1.87 | 57.4% (52.7–62.4) | 5.5% (4.8–27.6) |
| Breast cancer | 8.9% (PR: 8.5–26.3) | 1.61 | 49.4% (45.3–53.7) | 4.4% (4.2–13.1) |
| Prostate cancer | 2.4% (PR: 1.7–13.8) | 1.70 | 52.2% (47.9–56.7) | 1.2% (0.9–7.3) |
| Top 5 cancers subtotal | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9) | 1.82 | 56.0% (52.3–58.8) | 6.2% (5.5–11.7) |
| Other cancers | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9)b | 2.13 | 65.5% (60.1–71.1) | 7.3% (6.6–13.9) |
| Total cancers | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9) | 1.95 | ||
Table 3:
Literature-derived missed or delayed diagnosis rates for the top 5 cancers- cancer misdiagnosis.
| Cancer | Point estimatea | Lower bound | Upper bound | Study design (sample) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lung cancer | 22.5% [58] | 11.3% [59] (PB % with long delayb) | 37.8% [60] (PB % with any delayb) |
|
|
| Breast cancer | 8.9% | 8.5% (95% CB) | 26.3% (PB % with short delayb) | National registry study (n=21,818) [61] | National Cancer Comprehensive Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Outcomes Database 2000–2007; eight US comprehensive cancer centers; delay >60 days in 26.3% (n=5747) and >180 days in 8.9% (n=1937) |
| Colorectal cancer | 9.6% [62] | 8.4% [62] (95% CB) | 47.7% [63] (PB % with short delayb) |
|
|
| Prostate cancer | 2.4% | 1.7% (95% CB) | 13.8% (PB % with short delayb) | National registry study (n=1763) [64] | UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink 1998–2009; 600 primary care practices, 7% of UK population; delay despite red flag symptoms >1 month in 13.8% (n=244) and >6 months in 2.4% (n=42) |
| Melanoma | 13.6%d | 6.8% [65] (PB % with long delayb after told “all clear”) | 25.0% [66] (PB % with short delayb) |
|
|
Table 5:
Severity-weighted, disease-specific diagnostic error and serious cancer misdiagnosis-related harm rates.
| Cancer | ||||
| Lung cancer | 22.5% (PR: 11.4–37.8) | 2.01 | 61.9% (56.8–67.2) | 13.9% (7.0–23.6) |
| Melanoma | 13.6% (PR: 6.8–25.0) | 1.34 | 41.2% (37.8–44.8) | 5.6% (2.8–10.3) |
| Colorectal cancer | 9.6% (PR: 8.4–47.7) | 1.87 | 57.4% (52.7–62.4) | 5.5% (4.8–27.6) |
| Breast cancer | 8.9% (PR: 8.5–26.3) | 1.61 | 49.4% (45.3–53.7) | 4.4% (4.2–13.1) |
| Prostate cancer | 2.4% (PR: 1.7–13.8) | 1.70 | 52.2% (47.9–56.7) | 1.2% (0.9–7.3) |
| Top 5 cancers subtotal | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9) | 1.82 | 56.0% (52.3–58.8) | 6.2% (5.5–11.7) |
| Other cancers | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9)b | 2.13 | 65.5% (60.1–71.1) | 7.3% (6.6–13.9) |
| Total cancers | 11.1% (PPR: 10.1–20.9) | 1.95 | ||