Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer: Impact on Disease Progression and Survival

A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature for Personal Injury Lawyers

Publisher: Medifocus Legal
Publication Date: September 15, 2025
Number of Pages: 104
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization. Early detection is crucial for improving prognosis and survival rates; however, delayed diagnosis continues to pose significant challenges in healthcare systems globally.

Studies indicate that approximately 20-30% of cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, often due to delays in detection. These delays can occur at various points in the healthcare journey, including patient recognition of symptoms, access to screening programs, or healthcare provider assessment. For instance, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that patients with delayed diagnosis of breast or colorectal cancer had a 30-50% lower five-year survival rate compared to those diagnosed promptly.

The reasons behind diagnostic delays are multifaceted. Patient-related factors include lack of awareness, fear, or socioeconomic barriers that hinder seeking medical attention. Healthcare system issues such as limited access to screening, inadequate training, or misinterpretation of symptoms by clinicians also play a role. Consequently, delayed diagnosis not only diminishes survival chances but also increases the complexity and cost of treatment, often leading to poorer quality of life for patients.

Delayed cancer diagnosis has significant medico-legal consequences. Physicians have a duty of care to diagnose and treat conditions in a timely manner. Failure to do so may be considered negligence if it can be shown that standard medical practices were not followed, and that this failure directly resulted in harm.

Legal cases frequently arise from missed or delayed diagnoses, with plaintiffs alleging that early detection could have prevented disease progression or death. Courts often examine whether healthcare providers adhered to accepted diagnostic protocols and whether appropriate investigations were performed. In some jurisdictions, delayed diagnosis cases have resulted in substantial compensation awards, emphasizing the importance of diligent clinical assessment and documentation.

The MediFocus Literature Guide to Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer is a comprehensive guide to the medical literature for personal injury lawyers that focuses on the impact of a delayed cancer diagnosis on disease progression and patient survival. The studies included in this Guidebook cover a broad group of solid cancers including breast, lung, pancreatic, head and neck, oral, colon, colorectal, bladder, gastric, ovarian, and cervical cancer. This Literature Guide includes over 130 carefully selected journal article references published in peer-reviewed medical journals that represent the current body of knowledge regarding the impact of a delayed cancer diagnosis on disease progression, patient survival and quality of life.

This Literature Guide is available as a soft-cover book or a PDF download. When you order the soft-cover book, we also include the PDF format at no additional cost. The user-friendly PDF format enables easy access to the abstracts of each individual article. Convenient links are also included to the full-text version of each article, many of which are available as a free download.

Order your copy of The MediFocus Literature Guide to Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer today! Please see the side panel for ordering information.





Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer: Impact on Disease Progression and Survival is a one-of-a-kind literature reference Guide that includes:

• A comprehensive bibliography of 133 journal article references indexed in MEDLINE published in well respected medical and scientific journals.
• Online access to the abstracts (summaries) of the articles.
• Online access to the free full-text version of 66 articles.
• Links to full-text sources of other articles that are available for purchase directly from individual journal publishers.
• A unique "Author Directory" consisting of the names and institutional affiliations of experts who have published and have specialized knowledge about Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer: Impact on Disease Progression and Survival. The "Author Directory" is a valuable resource for quickly identifying and locating experts for case reviews, opinions, and testimony.

Select examples of topics that are covered by the articles referenced in this Guidebook include:

• Delays in diagnosis of paediatric cancers: a systematic review and comparison with expert testimony in lawsuits.
• Diagnostic delay at diagnosis and time-to-treatment influence overall survival of pancreatic cancer patients.
• Delayed diagnosis to treatment interval in head & neck cancers - A systematic review and meta-analysis.
• Predictors and outcomes of delays between diagnosis and definitive surgery for rectal cancer.
• Analysis of Diagnostic Delay and its Impact on Lung Cancer Survival
• Surgical Outcomes in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Distant Metastasis: The Prognostic Significance of Delayed Metastasis Diagnosis.
• Effects of delayed diagnosis on tumor size, stage and grade in bladder cancer.
• Delayed Diagnosis and Prognostic Impact of Breast Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Do Patient Delay and Diagnostic Delay Influence Long Term Survival in Patients with Gastric Cancer?
• Delayed cervical cancer diagnosis: a systematic review.
• Influence of Diagnostic Delay on Survival Rates for Patients with Colorectal Cancer.
• Impact of Diagnostic Delays on Lung Cancer Survival Outcomes: A Population Study of the US SEER-Medicare Database.
• Gastrointestinal symptoms and diagnosis preceding ovarian cancer diagnosis: Effects on treatment allocation and potential diagnostic delay.
• Significance of Delays from Diagnosis to Surgery in Patients with Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer.
• Delayed breast cancer diagnosis after repeated recall at biennial screening mammography
• Impact of delayed treatment in women diagnosed with breast cancer: A population-based study
• The effect of diagnostic delay attributable to the healthcare system on the prognosis of colorectal cancer.
• Delay to Colectomy and Survival for Patients Diagnosed with Colon Cancer.
• Do diagnostic and treatment delays for colorectal cancer increase risk of death?
• Rectal cancer in patients under the age of 50 years: the delayed diagnosis.

The MediFocus Literature Guide on Delays in the Diagnosis of Cancer: Impact on Disease Progression and Survival is available in two formats:
PDF Format (available for immediate download to your computer) List Price: $ 134.95 Less Discount: $ 55.00 Your Discounted Price: $ 79.95	Soft-Cover Book (includes free PDF download List Price: $ 164.95 Less Discount: $ 65.00 Your Discounted Price: $ 99.95
Order by Phone: To order by phone, please call: 1-301-649-9300 Order by Mail: To order by mail, please print and complete this Order Form