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An Auckland woman who is self-funding treatment for her rare, aggressive breast cancer is fed up after years of asking the government to fund a “life-saving” medicine for more patients.
Catherine Cook, 54, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in November 2024 after her yearly mammogram.
Cook sold her business to pay for Keytruda (also known as pembrolizumab), the only targeted treatment to fight TNBC, given to patients alongside chemotherapy.
Around 10 to 15 per cent of breast cancer diagnoses are triple negative, and it is the most challenging type of breast cancer to treat – particularly at the advanced stages, according to Breast Cancer NZ.
But despite Keytruda being recommended by Medsafe for both early and advanced stage of TNBC over two years ago, it had only been funded for advanced patients – not for patients like Cook with early-stage TNBC.
All up, Cook said she expected to pay about $100,000 for Keytruda, with one cycle every three weeks costing her $3000.
RNZ
