15
Oct 2019
Secondary breast cancer diagnosis – ‘unacceptable’ delays
A survey suggests that one in four secondary breast cancer patients had to visit their GP at least three times before receiving a diagnosis.
Charity Breast Cancer Now have said there should be more awareness that the disease can spread to other parts of the body.
Currently, there are around 35,000 patients living with the incurable form of the disease in the UK.
The charity said that it was “unacceptable” that some patients with secondary cancer were not getting early access to treatments which could improve their quality of life and alleviate symptoms.
“For too long now, the worrying perception that everyone survives breast cancer has masked the heartbreaking reality for 11,500 families in the UK that lose someone they love each year”, the charity said.
The Royal College of GPs’ Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, said “GPs and our teams are working flat out to do the very best we can for all our patients. We understand the importance of timely cancer diagnoses and are highly trained to identify possible symptoms of cancer and its recurrence.”
The advanced, metastatic form of the disease means the cancer has spread through the blood and created secondary tumours in the liver, lung, brain or bones. It is incurable and patients remain on treatment for the rest of their lives.
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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