Dec 28, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Specialist physicians in Quebec question why the outside review of ER and HER2 breast cancer pathology test results used a 1% standard versus a 10% standard
Public debate in Quebec about inaccurate tests for breast cancer by the province’s pathology laboratories has turned attention to an area of pathology testing which is seldom discussed in public forums. It is the situation where there is often significant variability in rate of false positives and false negatives reported by different pathology laboratories performing the same tests for breast cancer and other diseases.
Quebec’s media coverage about problems with its pathology laboratories and inaccurate breast cancer tests was reported last week by Dark Daily in the e-briefing titled “PART ONE: More Debate in Quebec about How Pathology Labs Performed Inaccurate Breast Cancer Tests” . Here in Part Two, we describe how Quebec’s medical specialists are calling attention to another source of problems. This is how the use of various standards for evaluating breast cancer specimens can contribute to different rates of false positive and false negative results on pathology tests reported by pathology laboratories in the province.
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Dec 23, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Results of retesting 2,856 women were made public last week, putting pathology in the media spotlight
In Quebec, concerns continue about the accuracy of breast cancer testing performed in the province. Last Wednesday, Quebec’s Health Minister, Yves Bolduc released the results from a project that retested breast cancer tissue from 2,856 women. This review involved cases where the original pathology analysis for estrogen receptor (ER) or HER-2 marker status by immunohistochemistry (IHC) had occurred between April 1, 2008, and June 1, 2009. (more…)
Oct 2, 2009 | Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Executive Edge conference tackles the good, the bad, and the ugly of lab testing
DATELINE: TORONTO, CANADA—Yesterday and today, an impressive cross section of leaders in clinical lab testing, histopathology, and other health specialties in Canada came together. Their goal was to discuss and debate the future of laboratory testing services in Canada at the 4th Executive Edge conference.
If the future state of lab testing in Canada was the theme, ever-present in the background is the current state of laboratory testing. That’s because, since 2005, a number of news stories about deficiencies and failures in cancer testing at different pathology laboratories in Canada have made headlines across the country.
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