You hear a lot about breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You know that exposure to radiation can lead to cancer, which is why your dentist steps out of the room during x-rays. You understand that lung cancer is very serious, and you see warnings about it on every pack of cigarettes.
But what is the most common type of cancer? Is it one of these?
It’s not. The reality is that skin cancer is more common than every other type combined. Combined. Each year in the United States, more people develop skin cancer than every other type that gets diagnosed, even if you added all of those totals together. Some of them are very serious, such as:
- Colon cancer
- Lung cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
But even adding in these major types does not bring the totals up past what people see for skin cancer alone.
There is good news. Since skin cancer is external, not internal, it is theoretically much easier to find than other types. Often, the reason that cancer turns fatal is that people do not have symptoms until it is very advanced. With skin cancer, you can at least spot physical signs before you have any negative health symptoms, and the cancer can often be removed without trouble.
Unfortunately, doctors do make mistakes. They may misdiagnose your skin cancer, allowing it to spread and become more advanced. This could turn it into a fatal diagnosis when it never needed to be. You and your family must know what legal options you have if this occurs.