The Demographic Analyses of Undiagnosed and Misdiagnosed Cancer Cases via Autopsy Data

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death. Recent increases in undiagnosed and misdiagnosed cancer cases at autopsies suggests that the presence of cancer is more prevalent in the general population than previously thought. Such cases may be different in certain populations with regard to key demographic characteristics (age, race, gender, etc.). Therefore, this study aimed to identify trends in these undiagnosed cases of different cancer types. The data suggest that cancers of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, and prostate gland were frequently undiagnosed/misdiagnosed, while cancers of the breast and brain are rarely missed. The data also show that the presence of undetected prostate cancer is likely not different, to a significant degree, in younger versus older age groups. This indicates that cancer possibly manifests early in human life but remains undetected for several decades. However, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis. The data suggests that the prevalence of undetected cancer is highest in African-Americans compared to other races/ethnicities such as European and Asian. With regard to gender, the prevalence of undetected cancer appears to be higher in men than women. To conclusively validate these findings, further research is needed including concurrent and prospective analyses on live cases.