‘You’re a warrior…know we are holding you’: Friends including Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar pour out support TV star Shannen Doherty who revealed she is now battling brain cancer in moving video of her radiotherapy treatment
- American actor Shannen Doherty has shared her terminal brain cancer diagnosis
- Friends and fans went online to share well-wishing messages with 90210 star
Tributes have poured in for American actress Shannen Doherty as she reveals she is now battling terminal brain cancer.
The Beverly Hills 90210 star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and, in a video shared online Wednesday, revealed the disease had spread to her brain.
She narrated a video of herself beginning radiation therapy back in January: ‘My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life.’
Showbiz friends and fans turned out to share tributes and warm wishes. Sarah Michelle Geller wrote ‘you are a warrior’, as Selma Blair said: ‘I am wishing for all the wise peace you have learned to find you in the terror moments… Love. All love.’
Fewer than 15 percent of breast cancer patients will see it spread to the brain. Doherty announced she was in remission in 2017 but her cancer returned in 2019.
That year, she also shared the tragic reason she was unable to have children as hormones ‘threw my body into menopause instantly’ and taking estrogen to reverse it could increase her risk of cancer coming back.
Sarah Michelle Gellar left a message for Shannen Doherty under her video on Instagram
Fellow actor Selma Blair shared words of ‘love’ on Shannen’s profile after sharing the video
American filmmaker and actor Kevin Smith shared kind and personal words with Shannen
Shannen shared videos of her starting treatment in January on her page, prompting kind messages of support
This week, the actor shared a video of herself on Instagram receiving treatment.
On Wednesday she shared a second, with intimate scenes of her crying as she underwent a CT scan.
READ MORE: Six tell-tale signs of breast cancer revealed as Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty reveals disease has spread to her brain
She described the scene: ‘January 12, the first round of radiation took place.
‘My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life.
‘I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at cedar sinai.
‘But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like.’
Fans on Twitter also went online to share their thoughts.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, indicating that it had reached stage two or three and spread to her lymph nodes.
She underwent a mastectomy and when that did not resolve the issue completely, received chemotherapy and radiation treatments until announcing in 2017 that her cancer was in remission.
She announced on Tuesday that in early January she had undergone a CT scan that showed brain metastases.
Each year in the US, about 264,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and about 2,400 in men. And those rates are on the rise.
In recent years, incidence rates have increased by 0.5 percent per year, which experts suggest could be a result of a rise in excess body weight in women overall, as well as a drop in fertility rates and rising ages of women at their first birth.
Brain metastases, or the condition in which cancer has spread to the brain, is rare among breast cancer patients affecting about 10 to 15 percent.
Shannen Doherty cries as she starts radiation therapy in January, in a video shared in June
Shannen Doherty is pictured with fellow 90210 star Luke Perry in Beverley Hills
Twitter users also wrote kind words on their profile following the updates on Shannen’s page
A user on Instagram empathized with Shannen, leaving a kind note under the latest video
Health writer Benjamin Ryan wrote a tribute to the actor on Twitter following the update
Health experts in the United States are advising women to get checked at 40, not 50
Twitter users also shared fond memories of Doherty’s performances and sent best wishes to the star.
One user, Dilian Esper, stressed the importance of getting screened and catching cancer early.
A leading health panel this year recommended the age at which women are regularly screened for breast cancer should be cut from 50 to 40.
The change would save 20 percent more lives, according to the USPSTF, which has drafted the proposal in response to rising rates among middle-aged women.
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