I was shocked to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in my 40s

Ciara Foskin’s diagnosis came out of the blue. She is part of a small cohort of women under 50 who develop triple-negative breast cancer in Ireland

Ciara Foskin, 47, was shocked to be told she had cancer, given her age and healthy lifestyle. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

One in seven women in Ireland will get breast cancer. It is most common in women over 50, but Ciara Foskin is one of those to get it younger.

Last year, the 47-year-old went to see her GP to enquire about a lump in her left breast and, because she was “prone to cysts”, wasn’t too concerned. But on February 8, 2024, she was told that she had triple-negative breast cancer, which affects one in eight women with breast cancer. Because the cancer cells do not have receptors on their surface for oestrogen, progesterone or the HER2 protein, some treatments, such as hormone therapy, may not be as effective.