Mercy Medical Center study shines informs about appendix cancer

BALTIMORE —

Twenty years ago, appendix cancer was virtually unheard of — because many cancers were misdiagnosed.

"General surgeons, in the past, were taught that they would encounter patients with appendix cancer once in their career," said Dr. Vadim Gushchin with Mercy Medical Center. "These days, we get one or two patients from our general surgeons per year (within Mercy Medical Center)."

In some cases, the delays are because doctors are unfamiliar with appendix cancer pathology.

Mercy Medical teams conducted a study about those who travel to treat appendix cancer. They found patients who travel longer have less luck with completely removing their tumors.

That's because most of the patients who travel have waited longer before detecting their cancers.

Gushchin said patients who are