Seventeen cancer patients in Manitoba may have received the wrong prognosis or treatment, according to the latest findings into mistakes made by a senior pathologist.
Dr. Brock Wright, vice-president and chief medical officer of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said the investigation revealed three patients with prostate cancer may have required further radiation treatment after they had surgery to remove their tumorous prostate gland.
Wright said all three patients have been notified and were offered an immediate appointment with their physician to review if radiation treatment is necessary.
Another 14 cancer cases are still under review and health officials will not say what types of cancer they are looking at.
Wright attempted to downplay the recent hysteria that has gripped cancer patients across the province, saying the majority of cases did not have any errors.
So far, pathologists and cancer specialists have reviewed recent 289 cases. Of those, 275 were error free.
Health officials are not releasing the name of the full-time pathologist who was put on leave after an initial review of his cases found errors in 20 per cent of them.
"That should be reassuring for the public," Wright said at a news conference this afternoon.
Health officials announced they will be updating the public on the status of the investigation every Wednesday, and will release the name of the pathologist should the review uncover problems with his competency.
Days before the pathologist was put on leave, officials told the Free Press botched diagnostic tests were unlikely in Manitoba and the province had extensive reviews in place to investigate any suspicious tests.
Last week, a hospital in Owen Sound, Ont., announced it had a high rate of error in about 600 tests performed by one pathologists.
A similar diagnostic review of 24,000 cases is also underway in New Brunswick, and a highly publicized review in Newfoundland found more than 300 people received incorrect breast cancer results between 1997 and 2005.
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