She was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2020.
After three years of treatment, Shannen Doherty gave her fans an update on her breast cancer. In the new episode of her Let’s Be Clear podcast, the actress shared that she is seeing improvement by continuing with her treatment. She discussed the situation with her oncologist, Dr. Amin Mirhadi, and explained that she’s not comparing her diagnosis and treatment plan with other patients and believes that she is seeing improvement.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. The cancer returned in 2020, and the actress shared that it had reached stage 4. Last fall, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her brain and her bones. She underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor in 2023.
"I'm not gonna say what it is, I'm on a new cancer infusion, and after four treatments, we didn't really see a difference, and everybody wanted me to switch, and I just kinda was like, 'We're gonna keep going with this and see,'" she said. "And yeah, after the sixth or seventh treatment, we really saw it breaking down the blood-brain barrier. Do I call that a miracle? Yeah. For me, that happens to be a miracle right now. That I sort of rolled the dice and said, 'Let's keep going.'"
Shannen Doherty Shared That Her Cancer Has Spread to Her Bones
Doherty added that she and her team decided that it would be wise to stick to her treatment plan and not try something new.
"And that it's actually breaking down that blood-brain barrier is actually a miracle of that drug, a miracle of maybe God intervening and saying, 'I'm gonna give her a break.' Sometimes you're looking for miracles in all the wrong places, and they're right in front of your face," she noted.
She also explained that she's staying positive and that just because she didn't opt for a newer treatment doesn't mean that it wouldn't work for someone else, as cancer is different for every patient.
"Every day is a gift, and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there. I think it's so important," she added. "Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don't know. I can die walking outside of my house and a tree falling on me or a bus hitting me, whatever. Or I can die of cancer. But all I can do is live each day in as much as a positive manner with hope as I can and embrace it and feel like, 'Wow, I get to wake up again today, what can I do?'"
The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress finished by saying that she believes staying positive does, in fact, have an effect on her recovery.
"I believe that positivity that you bring into your life, I think it helps with your whole body," she said. "I think that it helps you fight the cancer. Mind over matter a little bit."