Preventing cancer misdiagnosis

Trumbull, Conn. (WTNH) - TRUMBULL, Conn. (WTNH) -- A kit is now available for doctors to lower the number of false positives in breast and prostate cancer cases.

More doctors, like breast cancer surgeon Dr. Andrew Kenler , are taking a DNA time out.

"You have to take a DNA time out to make sure you are treating a patient who truly has cancer," he said.

The Know Error System is offered at the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Cancer Center at Bridgeport Hospital. It uses the patient's DNA to reduce the number of false positive diagnosis for breast and prostate cancers.

"Actually 6,000 times annually in the US, a patient will either be over-treated or under-treated and that's where the Know Error System comes into play," Dr. Kenler explained.

The process eliminates errors like mislabeling and tissue contamination that can lead to irreversible complications.

Dr. Kenler said, "It matches the patient's own DNA from a swab of their cheek to a piece of their specimen from their core biopsy and if the DNA does not match that diagnosis, that diagnosis was not the patient's."  

His patient, Madeline Eicas, pointed out, "You hope in the back of your mind, maybe it's not a malignancy, but when you get the breast biopsy, that's the definitive diagnosis."

She had the test done and was diagnosed with breast cancer. "Everybody is anxious," she said. "You hear the word cancer, everybody worries. Why put somebody through it if they don't have to be?"

Eicas had a partial mastectomy and is now undergoing chemotherapy.
 
"It's something you don't really want to hear, but you're grateful for the fact it was caught when it was caught," she says.

Dr. Kenler added, "It's very powerful to tell a patient, 'yes Mrs. Jones, you need surgery, you need a mastectomy, but your diagnosis is correct, it's accurate, it's your's.'"

However, the technology does not protect a patient from a doctor's error when it comes to detecting the cancer.

Dr. Kenler said the way to do that is to get a second opinion.