LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shannen Doherty has received several tributes after revealing that she is facing terminal brain cancer. In a video posted online on Wednesday, the 'Beverly Hills 90210' star announced that she has been diagnosed with brain cancer after receiving her first breast cancer diagnosis in 2015.
In a video of herself starting radiation therapy in January, she said, "My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life." Fans and friends from the entertainment world sent her good wishes after the revelation. "I am wishing for all the wise peace you have learned to find you in the terror moments... Love. All love," Selma Blair remarked, while Sarah Michelle Geller said, "You are a warrior."
Less than 15% of individuals with breast cancer will get brain metastasis. Doherty declared herself to be in remission in 2017, but her illness returned the following year. She also revealed why she was unable to have children, saying hormones "threw my body into menopause instantly," and using estrogen to correct it may have increased her risk of developing cancer again.
'This is what cancer can look like'
The star posted a video of herself getting therapy this week on Instagram. She uploaded a second video on Wednesday that included private footage of her sobbing while getting a CT scan.
She wrote, "January 12, the first round of radiation took place. [...] I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at cedar Sinai." She added, "But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like."
Doherty received her initial breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, suggesting that it had spread to her lymph nodes and advanced to stage two or three. She underwent a mastectomy, and when it did not totally fix the problem, she continued chemotherapy and radiation therapy until she declared her cancer to be in remission in 2017, as reported by DailyMail.
Cancer metastasized to brain
She said on Tuesday that a CT scan she received in the beginning of January had revealed brain metastases. In the US, around 264,000 women and 2,400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Those figures are rising, as per reports.
Incidence rates have risen by 0.5 percent annually in recent years, which experts believe may be due to an increase in total female obesity, a decline in fertility rates, and an increase in the average age of first-time mothers. About 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer patients will experience brain metastases, where cancer enters the brain.
