Schoolgirl died after breast cancer referral downgraded

A teenage girl died of breast cancer after her treatment was downgraded from urgent” to routine” due to her age.

- HOLLY EVANS

Isla Sneddon, then aged 14, first went to hospital in the summer of 2022 with painful lumps in her breasts, but was informed that they were down to hormones.

She returned in 2024, aged 16, with similar symptoms, but despite her GP putting through an urgent referral due to a suspicion of cancer, it was downgraded in line with national guidelines.

Her family are now demanding a review of urgent cancer referrals, and has said she may have survived if her symptoms were taken as seriously as adult cancer treatment.

According to the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer, any new discrete lump in a patient over the age of 30 should be treated as an urgent referral and seen within two weeks, while those under 30 are treated as routine.

Speaking to The Independent, her cousin Mairi McGee said: “Isla was a beautiful soul. She was kind, reliable and had the ability to make people feel seen. She loved music, makeup and all things pink.”

After her urgent referral was downgraded, she was eventually seen for a biopsy two months later in August 2024 and told it was likely to be a benign tumour, a probable giant fibroadenoma.