Quebec will re-do breast-cancer tests for an additional 630 women who have had biospsies within the last 15 months, Health Minister Yves Bolduc said Thursday amid a controversy over botched tests.

An exhaustive internal review could lead to even more retesting, all of which will be done at labs outside the province, Bolduc told a news conference in Quebec City.

Quebec initially announced last month that 2,100 tests would be redone by the end of the year but that number has now increased to 2,730.

Pathologists raised alarm

A study released in May by Quebec's association of pathologists found that cancer patients in the province may have received inadequate treatment because of faulty testing.

But Bolduc said the latest round of tests is being done only as a precaution and that there's no evidence that any of the initial diagnoses were wrong.

Existing tissue samples taken between April 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009 will be reanalyzed "to reassure the population (and in) the interest of patients," said Bolduc.

The retesting won't be completed until the end of the year.

Bolduc says any women whose initial test results are overturned will be contacted immediately.

Class action

A Montreal woman is seeking permission to file a class-action suit against the provincial government for its alleged mishandling of the breast-cancer tests, including her own.

Marianne Tonnelier, diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2008, has filed a request to initiate the lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of thousands of patients.

Her lawyer, Bruce Johnston, said government inaction has put more than 2,000 Quebec women fighting breast cancer in limbo because they don't know if they're receiving the correct treatment.

The request alleges the Health Department knew about quality control problems in the province's pathology departments for at least a year and a half.

Quebec defends testing

Last month a committee of experts reporting to Bolduc said there was no evidence the initial tests were incorrect, but it recommended the samples be re-examined as a precautionary measure.