BREAST CANCER TESTS "BOTCHED" IN 25 LABS RUN BY QUEBEC'S PATHOLOGIST'S ASSOCIATION; REMINDER OF NEED TO CAREFULLY EXAMINE REPORTS IN CRIMINAL CASES

"“TO PUT IT BLUNTLY THIS COULD BE AN EXPLOSIVE SITUATION,” DR. LOUIS GABOURY, PRESIDENT OF THE QUEBEC PATHOLOGIST ASSOCIATION TOLD RADIO-CANADA."

REPORTER RHEAL SEGUIN: GLOBE AND MAIL:
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The Globe and Mail has reported that breast cancer testing conducted in 25 laboratories in the province of Quebec has been "botched" putting women at risk;

This is yet another example of pathology gone wrong in Canadian laboratories;

It is yet another reminder that mistakes can be made in pathology laboratories even where there are the best intentions to produce accurate results;

It is also a reminder of the need for careful examination of forensic lab results being relied upon by police in criminal investigations and prosecutions - a reminder that they, too, can be terribly wrong.

"Quebec's health officials revealed Wednesday night that the province's breast cancer testing is seriously flawed, putting the treatment and lives of women at risk in a debacle similar to what took place in Newfoundland and Labrador," the story, dated May 27, 2009, begins;

"Hundreds of Quebec women may have received inadequate or ineffective treatment due to improper assessments done in 25 laboratories under the supervision of the province's pathologists association," the story continues;

"The study was obtained by Radio-Canada and shows that every laboratory had flawed test results.

“To put it bluntly this could be an explosive situation,” Dr. Louis Gaboury, president of the Quebec pathologist association told Radio-Canada.

He said that the study identified problems similar to what was found in Newfoundland and Labrador, where at least 386 women and men in that province received faulty results on their breast cancer tests.

“We are certainly a step away from the situation found in Newfoundland and Labrador a few years ago,” Dr. Gaboury said. “That means several hundred women may have received an erroneous result.”

As in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec patients received incorrect results in their hormone receptor tests, which are used to determine treatment options.

The Quebec pathologists' study showed that the tests aimed at identifying markers for hormone therapy were flawed in 15 per cent to 20 per cent of cases. There were up to 30 per cent errors when identifying HER2 protein markers for a treatment involving the popular drug Herceptin.

There are 6,000 women in Quebec diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Botched cancer tests in Newfoundland and Labrador resulted in an inquiry headed by justice Margaret Cameron, who concluded in her report that the quality control at the St-John's laboratory that processed the breast cancer tests “was so little and so haphazard as to be non-existent.”

Quebec pathologists have demanded for years that the Quebec government undertake quality control tests of the province's laboratories, but to no avail. The pathologists decided to conduct the study themselves, which the Ministry of Health and Social Services is now scrambling to deal with.

“We were not informed until we saw the news report and nobody in the ministry is willing to confirm the conclusions of the report,” said ministry spokesperson Marie-Ève Bédard.

Health Minister Yves Bolduc was unavailable for comment, but was said to be meeting with his senior officials last night to determine the impact the report may have on public opinion should the study prove to be as accurate as Quebec pathologists claim it is.

Dr. Gaboury said the province should immediately undertake a full-scale study to determine the extent of the quality control in the provinces' laboratories. The study he conducted was small by comparison, Dr. Gaboury said.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, more than 100 breast cancer patients have died since their inaccurate tests, though there is no way of knowing if the errors hastened their demise."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;