Catherine Cooke is one of about 350 Kiwi women diagnosed with triple negative  each year. The only targeted treatment, the drug Keytruda, is unfunded for early-stage cancer like Cooke’s. She tells the Herald’s Bethany Reitsma how the huge cost of treatment for herself and others inspired her to petition the Government for change.

A 53-year-old mother of two has had to put her Auckland home on the market to pay for unfunded cancer treatment costing $85,000.

Now, she’s petitioning the Government to fund the cancer drug Keytruda for other women like her who have been diagnosed with early-stage triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Catherine Cooke was diagnosed with grade 3 TNBC, an aggressive form of the disease, in November last year after her yearly mammogram. In New Zealand, women between the ages of 45 and 69 years can get free breast screening every two years.

“Had I not done a year, I probably would have been a worse statistic in a year’s time because it would have been missed,” Cooke tells the Herald.

Catherine Cooke is selling her Auckland home to pay for Keytruda, costing her around $85,000. Photo / Catherine Cooke

She was told Keytruda with chemotherapy would give her the best chance of survival – but the drug would only be funded if her cancer was advanced.

“I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation until I found out that actually my cancer doesn’t fit in advanced.”

Cooke, who runs several businesses and works as a business adviser, has had to put most of her work on hold due to the effects of the treatment, which is costing her around $85,000.

To pay for the drug, she’s had to put her house in Pāremoremo up for sale – a choice she never thought she’d have to make.

“The guilt that I feel is insurmountable,” she says.

“It’s been my family home for 20 years and selling it feels like I’m letting my children down. But I wouldn’t be able to have treatment otherwise.”

Cooke has helped to fundraise for the Muriwai community after Cyclone Gabrielle and for the charity Dress for Success Auckland – but she was hesitant to seek funding for herself through a Givealittle page, though .

“I’ve never been one to ask people for money,” Cooke shares.

“In this economy, I can’t go to the bank and ask for money because when you borrow money, you’ve got to know how you’re going to pay for it.”

Catherine Cooke was diagnosed with grade 3 triple negative breast cancer after a routine mammogram. Photo / Catherine Cooke

At the time of writing, she had undergone eight of 22 courses of chemotherapy with Keytruda, which her oncologist believes is working well so far – but it comes at a huge personal and emotional cost.

“There are some days I think I won’t die of the disease but the emotional toll of how to pay for the treatment I need,” Cooke shares.

“Keytruda is non-negotiable – what do I do if I get to a point where I can’t afford it? Then I have to really say to my family, I have to choose Russian roulette – and Russian roulette for my breast cancer is death.”

Cooke is determined to live because she feels she has “so much more to give”.

“I’m doing everything I can to give this a fighting chance for myself and others.”

She’s joined several online groups of other Kiwis in similar situations – facing life-changing diagnoses without the means to pay for treatment.

“It’s not just about me, and I don’t want this to be about me,” she says. It’s why  for early-stage triple negative breast cancer patients.

“Common sense would tell you that if you fund an early-stage breast cancer treatment, you would have fewer people going into the advanced stage, and therefore you would not have to be funding as many people.

“Why are we adding mental unwellness and financial burden on to the lives of good people and their families?”

Catherine Cooke is fundraising for the Breast Cancer Foundation amid her own treatment for the disease. Photo / Trinity Williams, Magick Matter

She’s also organised , which provides information, resources, practical support and counselling for Kiwi women living with breast cancer.

“The Breast Cancer Foundation provide an amazing service ... they show humility, they also have experience, and they also are able to share with you the normality of what you’re going through.”

Cooke wants to urge others to do what they can for people in their community who are facing cancer.

“It really doesn’t take much. If you can’t give money, you can still spread the word. Don’t get caught in the weeds and do nothing – have a heart and put a percentage of the time of your life towards something that means a lot.”

Her message to other women is to stay vigilant and get regular mammograms.

“If you can afford a private one, do a private one in the year that you don’t have a public one, as well as breast checks.

“Cancer of any type or illness of any type doesn’t discriminate. None of us are invincible.”

Cooke is far from alone in taking such drastic measures to pay for cancer treatment. In March 2024, the Herald reported that  to pay for treatment for . In July 2024,  on private diagnosis and treatment for stage 3 amid delays in the public system.

What is triple negative breast cancer?

In New Zealand, around 350 women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer each year – around 10% of all breast cancer diagnoses.

For one in three of those women, their cancer will become incurable within five years of their initial diagnosis.

Breast Cancer Foundation chief executive Ah-Leen Rayner tells the Herald, “Triple negative breast cancer is the deadliest form of breast cancer, and it’s the hardest to treat.

“So, unlike the other breast cancers that are out there, it doesn’t respond to hormone-blocking treatments and drugs, which are part of the standard of care. It’s the diagnosis that you don’t want.”

Breast Cancer Foundation CEO Ah-Leen Rayner. Photo / Breast Cancer Foundation NZ

Immunotherapy drug Keytruda is the only targeted treatment that works to fight TNBC, given to patients alongside chemotherapy. It’s fully funded in 40 other countries including Australia, Canada and Britain.

“If we can stop breast cancer from coming back and stop it from becoming incurable, surely the cost of funding the drug outweighs the cost of treatment required in our hospital systems and facilities,” Rayner says.

“So, given how aggressive triple negative breast cancer is and it’s more likely to come back after treatment, you can’t argue that there isn’t a desperate need for a targeted drug like Keytruda available to women in New Zealand.”

According to the Breast Cancer Foundation’s national register, which records every breast cancer diagnosis in the country, about 100 women a year could benefit from Keytruda after being diagnosed with early triple negative breast cancer.

The drug was funded for people with advanced TNBC in October 2024. A year earlier, Pharmac advisers had recommended that it should be funded for both early and advanced stages.

“Two years on and counting, we’ve yet to see a decision,” Rayner says.

“Women like Catherine are having to go through drastic lengths to be able to pay for Keytruda. It’s atrocious that New Zealanders are selling their homes, asking for help from their parents or complete strangers to find hundreds of thousands of dollars, or potentially simply going without treatment that could save their lives.

“We’re urging the Government to ensure Pharmac has the budget it needs to be able to afford these essential cancer medicines.”