If any of the 192 cases of undocumented hereditary cancer reports the BC Cancer Agency is now investigating involve patients from northern B.C., they now know about it.
A genetic counsellor for the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) who refers patients to the Hereditary Cancer Program was relieved of her duties for failing to send those reports to the referring doctors. As a result, those patients might not have known if they are at an increased risk of developing inherited types of cancer.
Since the BCCA launched its investigation, all but four of those patients and their doctors have been contacted and all of the remaining four live in the Lower Mainland, said BCCA spokesperson David Weir. But Weir was unable to provide information on how many Northern Health Authority patients are involved.
"I've checked how they've been tracking in terms of prioritizing the files and without going into the hard copy files, they do not have a spreadsheet that allows them to sort the data quickly and it would require going through each and every patient file to see where they're from," said Weir.
"We did look if there was a way to quickly and easily provide the numbers but unfortunately it wasn't becoming obvious. That's a little more time-consuming than we have the ability to do right now."
The Hereditary Cancer Program, with offices in Vancouver, Surrey and Abbotsford, sees 1,300 new patients each year to provide information on whether their genetic makeup puts them at an increased risk of developing the disease.
The program refers patients for further genetic testing and, based on their family history, directs them to the appropriate screening examinations. Barb McGillivray, the program's medical director, says in all 192 cases that protocol was followed.
"It was after that we have discovered there was an issue," said McGillivray. "What should happen next is that the referring physicians of those individuals should receive a letter to summarize the session and particularly any recommendation about the session. In some cases, that did not occur.
"Because we're not involved in diagnosis and treatment we do feel there is minimal risk of harm. That doesn't at all negate the concern we have over this and the attention we are paying it. We've taken it extremely seriously and once the letters are completed we will be focusing our attention onto the investigation and augmenting our screening and our audits going
forward."
The BCCA recognized the problem about a month ago, after another counsellor picked up on a message left by a 52-year-old Surrey woman, Susan Frank, who had failed to receive results from her January 2010 test for breast cancer.
At the time that test was done, Frank had been told it would take six months for results. When that date arrived with no response from the BCCA she made several calls and emailed the now-dismissed counsellor, but received no reply. Frank later learned the lab report was not sent back to her referring doctor and the results of her blood test went unchecked.
"There were quite a few blunders, and not just pertaining to me," Frank told The Vancouver Sun. "I am now looking at getting results in about April, which will be 15 months after I submitted my blood for sampling, and that's far too long."
Between five and seven per cent of all cancers are related to family history, with cancer of the breast, ovaries and rectum the most common of hereditary types. Genetic testing will not diagnose cancer but might determine if a patient has a genetic mutation that could increase the chances of developing the disease.
McGillivray said all patients who have concerns about their visits to the Hereditary Cancer Program should call 1-604-877-6600, local 2198.
If any of our readers were among the group of patients whose cases were mishandled by the BC Cancer Centre's Hereditary Cancer Program, The Citizen would like to hear from you. Call 250-562-2441, local 2401 or email Citizen health reporter Ted Clarke at
