180 Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Patients May Have Got False Positive, About 90 Got ‘Unnecessary Treatment’
One of the worst experiences someone can have is to have to go to hospital due to a serious illness.
Our hospitals try to soothe the ordeal as much as possible, but nothing can take away the physical and emotional pain of being ill.
Unfortunately, 180 breast cancer patients at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) may have to revive their ordeal as the hospital said they could have received wrong results.
90 of them also received unnecessary treatment due to the error — meaning they could have taken a drug with side effects when they didn’t have to.
KTPH has posted on Facebook about the error, apologising to all the affected patients.
Its CEO has also conveyed her deepest apologies to those affected.
Tests for gene were inaccurate
In its media statement released on Friday (11 Dec), KTPH said the error was 1st detected on 19 Nov, when it was alerted by its laboratory.
Image for illustration purposes only.
Source
The lab said its tests for a gene called Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) were inaccurate.
How inaccurate? Well, more positive results were produced than expected.
That means some patients received a false positive.
HER2 positive means cells are growing uncontrollably
So what if one gets a false positive for HER2?
As HER2 is a gene that controls cells, if a patient is found to be HER2 positive, that means that gene is not working properly, KTPH said.
That also means that the gene is making “too many copies of itself” and producing too much proteins.
This leads to “uncontrolled growth” of cells, i.e. cancer.
Image for illustration purposes only.
Source
However, KTPH clarified that the HER2 test doesn’t diagnose cancer.
It only tells patients who already have breast cancer whether they are HER2 positive. This will help with their treatment.
180 KTPH patients may have gotten false positive
Based on the estimate made by KTPH, about 180 of their breast cancer patients may have received the false positive result.
They may be re-classified to HER2 negative, the hospital added.
This estimate is based on samples dating back to 2012, the year that HER2 testing started at the hospital.
The samples were sent to sent to external labs so they could be retested for HER2.
About 90 patients received drug with side effects
Of these 180 potentially false-positive patients, about half of them – i.e. about 90 – received “unnecessary treatment” for the condition, KTPH said.
The treatment is usually a drug named Herceptin, which is the brand name for an antibody named Trastuzumab.
According to KTPH, Herceptin unfortunately has side effects.
Commonly, they are diarrhoea, chills and fever.
However, for about 3-4% of patients, Herceptin may cause heart problems.
KTPH CEO apologises
Mrs Chew Kwee Tiang, the chief executive of KTPH, was deeply apologetic.
She conveyed her apologies to all the affected patients, their families and their oncologists, saying,
I am very sorry that they have to go through this.
She said the hospital will do their best to take care of them.
KTPH will also take “the necessary steps” to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, she added.
KTPH reached out to patients for support
KTPH said it has reached out personally to affected patients and offered them support.
They’re still in the process of contacting all the affected patients.
Their oncologists will also review their treatment.
Necessary authorities have been notified
All the necessary authorities have been notified, KTPH said.
The incident has been reported to the National Healthcare Group (NHG) on 22 Nov.
In response, NHG convened an independent review committee with external
experts.
The panel will conduct a thorough review of how the incident occurred, so that the process can be elevated and something similar won’t happen again.
The hospital also reported the case to the Ministry of Health (MOH) on 24 Nov, and testing for HER2 at KTPH has been stopped indefinitely.
Hope affected patients won’t show adverse effects
While it’s good that KTPH was honest and forthcoming to admit the error, what’s of more concern are the welfare of the patients who’ve got a false positive.
That’s especially when 90 of them took a drug that they didn’t need to, which has side effects.
Let’s hope the patients affected will recover smoothly from their cancer nonetheless, and no adverse effects from the incident will manifest.
Patients with queries about the incident can call KTPH at 6602 3333.
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