Just keratosis: Skin cancer misdiagnosis

Donna Bischoff’s story

Many general practitioners (the article [“The Dark Side of the Sun” in the July/August issue of Stanford Magazine] suggested 40%) don’t correctly diagnose melanoma. My elderly aunt had a large carcinoma that was incorrectly diagnosed by a gerontologist as “just keratosis.” I specifically asked him if she should have a biopsy. He said no because he was 100% sure this was keratosis and was quite perturbed to have his diagnosis questioned. Six months later, my aunt saw a dermatologist who immediately knew she had an advanced malignant cancer.

Donna’s Advice: Patients must be proactive in their health care, and that of their loved ones. Doctors can be fatally wrong.