Anabel's lost year illustrates the failings of Spain's breast cancer program

By Elena Rodriguez

SEVILLE, Spain, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Anabel Cano believed she was in the clear after receiving no follow-up for a breast cancer screening in 2023 at Seville's Virgen del Rocio Hospital. 

But a year later, during what she assumed was another routine screening she began to realise something was wrong when doctors focused solely on her right breast with worried looks on their faces. She had cancer, she was told. In October, after undergoing chemotherapy, she was on the operating table for a mastectomy.  

Cano is one of thousands of women in the Spanish southern region of Andalusia who were not properly informed about inconclusive mammogram results. The delay in diagnosis sparked protests, legal claims, and the resignation of the regional health chief.

"I accept the cancer, but what I don't accept is why they abandoned me for a year," she told Reuters.

The controversy has spilled into national politics, with Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez using it to attack his opponent, the conservative People's Party which governs in Andalusia, and the Health Ministry ordering all regions to review cancer screening protocols. 

Andalusia, Spain's most populous region and a former Socialist stronghold, must hold regional elections by June 2026. It is one of several regional votes that could act as a barometer for a national election expected in 2027.

PATIENTS IN THE DARK

Most of the cases of delayed diagnosis were linked to the Virgen del Rocio Hospital, where follow-up protocols failed, leaving patients unaware that further tests were needed. 

It is unclear whether it was due to human error, or a systems failure.

Andalusian authorities say they have implemented new guidelines to avoid similar cases in the future.

Since Spanish radio station Cadena Ser broke the news in late September, the regional government says it has already rescheduled tests for 2,317 women whose screenings showed breast abnormalities of which they were not informed. 

Most of the abnormalities are benign, the Andalusian government said. There are no official data on whether any of those women turned out to have cancer.

Breast cancer association Amama says it has been warning since 2021 that there were flaws in the screening program and believes there may be more cases yet to be uncovered, affecting a potential total of between 3,000 and 6,000 women. 

Manuel Jimenez Soto, a lawyer working with Amama, is representing more than 200 women who are suing or plan to sue the regional government on negligence grounds. 

Each case is different and therefore individual, although there's always the same pattern, he said. 

The prosecutor's office is investigating whether the cancer screening program was poorly managed. On Tuesday, it dropped a separate inquiry into the alleged disappearance of data from the health portal, concluding that all the information was intact.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumour in women in Andalusia, Spain and Europe. 

Around 1.3 million women in Andalusia are part of the screening programme, and around 400,000 mammograms are performed every year. Around 1,800 women were diagnosed with breast cancer last year thanks to the programme, according to official statistics.

Cano thinks she could have avoided losing her breast if the cancer had been caught earlier. 

The late diagnosis shattered her life. She lost her cleaning job, had to sell her home and now lives with her sister on just 470 euros ($546) a month social benefits.

"If they had called me (before) I would have a job today, I would be in my home, I would be happy," she said.

($1 = 0.8608 euros)

(Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; writing by Emma Pinedo; editing by Charlie Devereux and Sharon Singleton)