A 32-year-old woman from west London has incurable breast cancer after being told in 2020 that a lump on her breast was a benign cyst and 'nothing to worry about'. Dorita Delle Donne, from Ealing, was diagnosed with stage four metastatic triple-negative breast cancer a year after she first contacted her GP.
Dorita requested a mammogram after spotting a lump on her left breast, but was denied as she was deemed 'too young' for breast cancer. An ultrasound was carried out and she was told the 'cyst' was not concerning. However, further investigations revealed she had the rare triple-negative form of breast cancer, which has spread to her liver, lymph nodes and pancreas.
On the day of Dorita's first chemotherapy treatment in November, her father died of intestinal cancer in Italy. 'I could not even attend my own father's funeral,' she said. The restaurant manager has also had to cope with fears about her own life expectancy and the side-effects of treatment.
After seven cycles of chemotherapy, Dorita stopped responding and was moved to palliative care. Her partner of six years, Ester Sanna Ferraiolo, has set up a fundraising page to raise money for CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment not available on the NHS that could potentially save Dorita. More than £28,000 has been raised so far.
'Misdiagnosis has ruined Dorita's life at the age of 32; her ambitions, her dreams - but also my life has changed and the life of all people who love us,' Ester said. The couple hope to marry, a dream on Dorita's bucket list.
