This individual is a medical doctor with specialty training in the examination and diagnosis of cells and tissues. These tissues are removed from the body by various types of biopsy procedures. The pathologist then examines them under the microscope to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant. It is a common misunderstanding that a definitive cancer diagnosis can be made on the basis of X-rays, mammograms, blood tests and physician examination. The reality is that mistakes are made in the diagnosis of cancer.
Diagnostic accuracy depends on the individual pathologist's training, experience and judgment.
In fact, a number of scientific articles have confirmed that such errors occur in cancer diagnosis in an average of two to four percent of cases. Based on these percentages, it has been calculated that 30,000 incorrect cancer diagnoses occur annually in the United States. Serious consequences of wrong diagnosis These errors can lead to incorrect or inappropriate treatments that could cause serious medical consequences. The findings were published in the December issue of the journal Cancer. There is an easy solution to catch most of these mistakes, and that is to obtain a second opinion.