HAMPSHIRE hospital chiefs have apologised after vital cancer tests were lost as a batch of tissue samples was being transferred to a laboratory for analysis.

The blunder has left nine patients facing uncertainty and they may have to undergo a series of new tests to establish whether they have the illness.

Southampton University Hospitals Trust has apologised to patients, who included women being tested for breast cancer.

Mother-of-three Hannah Slater, 27, said she was appalled when she discovered she would never get the result of her biopsy operation.

Miss Slater underwent surgery after she discovered a one-and-a-half-inch long lump in her right breast.

She said: "I could not believe it when my consultant told me the tissue they had cut away had got lost. "I don't understand how they could lose the batch of samples.

"It has caused me a lot of worry and must have caused the other patients a lot of stress."

Miss Slater said she was told that her lump was most likely a benign tumour but a biopsy would reveal for certain whether or not it was cancerous.

"If the tests had shown the lump was harmless then I would have peace of mind but I still don't know for sure if anything is wrong," she said.

"I have been told I can have a scan but I would much rather have the results of the biopsy."

The hospital trust admitted that tissue samples from nine patients, including four breast biopsies, had been mislaid.

The samples were a batch to be taken from the Royal South Hampshire Hospital to the pathology laboratories at Southampton General Hospital on March 30.

A statement issued by the trust said: "The samples' absence was only noticed when doctors queried why no test results had been received.

"Extensive searches and investigations since then have failed to locate the missing specimens.

"We have apologised unreservedly for the error, offered repeat tests where this is appropriate and talked to them about any implications for their current or future treatment," it added.

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