A New Zealand woman was never told she had tested positive for a cancer-causing gene until the disease spread to other parts of her body, the health commissioner has found.
The woman died two years after she tested positive for the gene.
Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill on Monday found the radiation oncologist at the private breast clinic where the woman initially received treatment breached the rights of health service consumers.
After the woman underwent a mastectomy at the clinic, her surgeon sent the removed tissue for further tests to determine whether HER2 - (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) - was present.
When the woman met with her radiation oncologist to discuss therapy options, the HER2 result still hadn't come back.
So the oncologist told the woman she had a very good prognosis and recommended radiation therapy.
He did not recommend chemotherapy and there's no record that the pending HER2 result was discussed.
A week later the woman's HER2 result came back positive. Despite being aware of the test result, neither the breast surgeon nor the radiation oncologist told their patient of the positive result.
Nearly two years after undergoing the test, the woman developed back pain and underwent a bone scan at a public hospital.
She was diagnosed with metastatic disease, or the spread of cancer from one organ to another.
She was told of the HER2 positive result for the first time by the hospital's oncologist.
The woman later died from metastatic disease.
The commissioner found the private clinic's radiation oncologist failed to provide the woman with all the information she would reasonably expect to receive when discussing her prognosis.
Mr Hill said it was impossible to tell whether the woman's positive HER2 status would have affected her decision about therapy options.
But she should have been given the option to make decisions about her care in light of all of the relevant information, he said.
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