Five women now dead

Press, 12 June 1987, Page 5

Five women now dead

PA Auckland Five women treated conservatively for a form of cancer at National Women’s Hospital have since died, the "Auckland Star” newspaper reports. Four died of cancer of the vulva — for which they were being treated. The fifth developed the cancer but died of other causes. The dead women’s cases and treatment records are‘detailed in a paper written by two National Women’s doctors, Dr Ronald Jones and Dr Malcolm McLean. The paper was published in the October, 1986, edition of the United States medical journal, “Obstetrics and Gynecol-

ogy.” Based on a series of case studies its apparent aim is to compare treatment methods for the cancer when its pre-can-cerous condition is detected. , The Minister of Health, Dr Bassett, this week launched an independent inquiry into claims that women were ' conservatively treated for cervical cancer at National Women’s Hospital between 1966 and 1982. In each of the; five cases conservatively treated the women were found to have the precancerous condition known as carcinoma in . situ. But they were not treated in the same way as the other 26 patients.

the report says the five cases were treated conservatively — four were managed by biopsy and observation... alone, the fifth by biopsy and observation for four years, before having surgery which failed to remove all the carcinoma in situ. Other cases were treated with surgery which removed cancerous tissue. Drs Jones and McLean wrote the paper, based on the clinical records of the 36 women diagnosed as having carcinoma in situ of the vulva between 1962 and 1983. It did not necessarily follow that these doctors treated all the : cases referred io, the newspaper said. ' <