Patients ‘expect too much’ from cancer tests

DOCTORS only had themselves to blame for not making it clear that breast cancer can still be missed — even with the best systems in place, a leading member of the National Cancer Control Programme has claimed.

Prof Arnold Hill, the programme’s adviser on surgical oncology, said a problem in the breast cancer service was that people expected a perfect service.

Even in a massive oncology centre with teams of the very best doctors in the world, mistakes would be made in diagnosing cancer, Prof Hill declared at the annual general meeting of the Irish Hospital Consultants (IHCA) in Cork at the weekend.