Reaching Milestones After Cancer
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 65, is preparing for her Broadway debut as Polly Wyeth in the revival of Other Desert Cities, with previews beginning shortly before she reaches eight years in remission from breast cancer.
- The Seinfeld alum says she was drawn to the role and the play’s timely themes of family, secrets, and legacy.
- Louis-Dreyfus is an early-stage breast cancer survivor after she was diagnosed with the disease in 2017. Early-stage breast cancer means the tumors are either larger than stage one tumors or have moved to a few nearby lymph nodes, making it highly treatable.
- Breast cancer survivorship begins after active treatment ends, when patients are closely monitored to stay healthy, recover from side effects, and maintain habits that lower recurrence risk, including completing long‑term therapy, which can last 5–10 years and may cause challenging side effects, Dr. Erica Mayer and Dr. Elisa Port explain.
- If you or someone you love is navigating breast cancer, you don’t have to face every question alone. SurvivorNet’s My Health Questions, an AI-powered tool, can help you find answers to everyday cancer questions, better understand treatment options, and feel more informed along the way.
Louis-Dreyfus, who is perhaps best known and loved for playing Elaine Benes on NBC’s Seinfeld from 1990 to 1998, will be playing the formidable matriarch Polly Wyeth in the show. The Broadway revival is scheduled to open October 18 at the Hudson Theatre.
Read MoreThe official website for Other Desert Cities teases the play with the line, “Every family has a secret. Not every family survives it.”View this post on Instagram
The site describes the cast — Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe — as a “once-in-a-generation” lineup starring in John Benjamin Hickey’s revival of Baitz’s play.
“On Christmas Eve, the sunlit Palm Springs home of a politically connected family becomes a battleground of memory, loyalty, and legacy when a daughter returns with a memoir and the power to expose the explosive truth they’ve kept hidden,” the website reads. “With cutting insight and razor-sharp wit, they excavate old wounds and long-buried secrets. As the past comes into focus, the question isn’t just what happened, but who owns a family’s story and what is the cost to tell it.”
‘Thrilling and Scary as F**k’
When asked at the 79th Annual Tony Awards, back on June 7, Louis-Dreyfus told USA Today that her Broadway debut feels “thrilling, terrifying, exciting, happy-making, and scary as f**k.”
As for why she felt it was scary, she explained, “It’s a new challenge, but it’s one that I welcome because I’m very excited about the material and I love doing theater.”
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Fans were immediately delighted, with one commenting, “Julia, you are the best. They are fortunate to have you on their stage!”
Other fans dubbed Louis-Dreyfus as an “icon” and a “legend,” with another calling her a “queen.”
When asked what initially got her “excited about the Broadway stage,” Dreyfus told Entertainment Tonight in June, “Well, I love theater, and I mean, I grew up going to theater, and so I’ve always loved the Broadway stage.
“And I’ve been looking for material for quite some time, and this wonderful play came my way, and I just jumped on it because, for all sorts of reasons … not the least of which is it has huge resonance for today.
She added, “So it’s a revival, but it could be written last week. It’s so of the moment.”
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Breast Cancer Journey
Louis-Dreyfus first learned she was facing cancer the morning after the 2017 Emmy Awards.
“I started laughing. Well, the night before, I had won an Emmy. And so, I came downstairs, and…the Emmy was there. It was like on the dining room table. I’m coming down to get coffee. My cell phone rings, and it’s my doctor saying, ‘Guess what, you have cancer,'” Louis-Dreyfus said, according to People magazine.
“Of course, I did laugh, and then I became hysterical, crying, because I was terrified, as most people are if they get a diagnosis like that.”
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She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.
Stage 2 breast cancers are either larger than stage 1 tumors or have moved to a few nearby lymph nodes. Treatment will likely be some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. If chemotherapy is also needed after surgery, the radiation is delayed until the chemo is done. The same approach is taken for hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive stage 1. HER2-positive breast cancer means the tumor cells have estrogen and progesterone receptors and a higher-than-normal number of HER2 receptors on their surface.
After her diagnosis, Louis-Dreyfus shared the news publicly on her social media channels, prompting an outpouring of support.
The actress underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy during her treatment.
She compared her cancer treatment to an unnerving experience she previously had while out on a boat with her husband. She had hopped off the boat to go for a swim and noticed a shark in the water. She knew she needed to keep it together and swim to safety.
Expert Breast Cancer Resources
- An Overview of Breast Cancer Treatment
- Facing Breast Cancer Today, You Have Choices: Making Better-Informed Decisions After Active Treatment
- How Does Molecular Testing Help Determine the Best Breast Cancer Treatment Option?
- Have You Been Diagnosed With Late-Stage Breast Cancer? Know That You Have Treatment Options.
- Monitoring After Treatment for Breast Cancer
“I just saw the ladder, and I started swimming towards it, and I made the decision not to look around me at all. I was just going to stay looking at the ladder. And that very much applied to how I got through my cancer adventure — was sort of looking at the ladder. Just let’s get this done, let’s get there,” Louis-Dreyfus said.
By October 2018, Louis-Dreyfus announced that she was “cancer-free.” She’s set to reach the milestone of eight years in remission this fall.
Breast Cancer Screenings
As for breast cancer screenings, a mammogram is the primary test doctors use to check for breast cancer. The wide consensus is that women should have regular mammograms beginning in their 40s.
Leading organizations like the American Cancer Society say women can begin annual screenings at 40, but should start no later than 45. An independent panel of experts called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently changed their guidelines to say that women of average risk should begin at 40 and get mammograms every other year.
Dr. Connie Lehman, a diagnostic radiologist who specializes in breast cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, says that when you begin mammograms is a decision you should discuss with your doctor, as they can help you understand your specific circumstances and weigh the benefits and potential risks of earlier screening.
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Your mammogram results may determine the need for further testing, including a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If these tests suggest changes that might be cancer, you’ll need a biopsy a test in which your doctor removes a small sample of tissue and has it checked for cancer in a lab.
Only a biopsy can confirm or rule out whether you have breast cancer.
Although it can be frightening to go through breast cancer testing, SurvivorNet’s doctors say not to fret. It’s possible for a biopsy to find that a lump is benign or not cancerous.
If you do receive a breast cancer diagnosis, you’ll learn what type of breast cancer you have and the stage of the disease. The stage indicates how far the cancer has spread in your body.
Though most breast cancers are not linked to inherited genetic mutations, knowing whether you have a mutation could affect the type of treatment you get. SurvivorNet experts recommend all women who are diagnosed with breast cancer be given genetic testing.
Based on your test results, preferences, and personal circumstances (such as your age), you and your doctor will make decisions about how to proceed with treatment, for which we have plenty of expert resources.
Understanding Early-Stage Breast Cancer and What Comes Next
Early-stage breast cancer means the tumor is small and hasn’t spread to nearby lymph nodes. According to Dr. Elizabeth Comen, an Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU Langone Health, the first step is usually surgery to remove the cancer. This may involve a lumpectomy, where only the tumor and surrounding tissue are removed, often followed by radiation therapy to reduce the risk of recurrence.
However, treatment isn’t one-size-fits-all. Factors like age, tumor size, family history, and personal preference may influence whether radiation is needed or if a patient chooses a more aggressive approach, such as a mastectomy—removal of the entire breast. After surgery, a pathologist examines the tissue under a microscope to help determine the next steps in treatment.
WATCH: Understanding Early Stage Breast Cancer
Diagnostic testing plays a critical role in shaping your care plan. If a mammogram or clinical breast exam reveals something abnormal, your care team may recommend:
- Diagnostic mammogram and breast ultrasound to get a closer look at the breast and nearby lymph nodes
- MRI scans for additional imaging detail
- Biopsy of suspicious areas, including lymph nodes, to confirm cancer
- Tumor marker testing to identify hormone receptors and proteins that influence treatment options
- Additional imaging to check for any signs of metastatic disease
Once all this information is gathered, your cancer is staged—based on tumor size, lymph node involvement, and whether it has spread. Staging helps guide treatment decisions, while hormone receptor and protein marker tests reveal how the cancer behaves and which therapies may be most effective.
Your healthcare team will consider all of these factors—alongside your personal health, values, and goals—to create a treatment plan tailored to you.
Managing Recurrence Risk
“Once a patient has finished his or her active therapy for breast cancer, we will often refer to that time as breast cancer survivorship,” says Dr. Erica Mayer, a breast cancer medical oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
“This is a time when patients are still being actively monitored by their treatment team, not only to ensure that they remain healthy and cancer-free in the years ahead, but also to make sure that they have recovered from any side effects of their initial treatment, and that they are pursuing healthy behaviors for example, getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and keeping up with all their other routine medical care.”
To reduce the chances of recurrence, patients are urged to:
Follow Your Treatment Guidelines.
“The best way to reduce your risk of recurrence with breast cancer is to follow treatment guidelines and complete the course of treatment that’s given,” says Dr. Elisa Port, a surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Mount Sinai, to SurvivorNet.
“So the challenge is to work with every individual person to make sure we give her the best chance of getting through these treatments and enjoying the benefits of these treatments, which is the lowest rate of cancer coming back,” Port says.
Limit Alcohol.
Port says the other lifestyle factor that may increase one’s risk of breast cancer recurrence is heavy alcohol intake.
Eat a Healthy Diet and Exercise.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and medical advisor to SurvivorNet, notes that while exercise is well known for supporting weight loss, research shows it may also play a meaningful role in lowering breast cancer risk.
She explains that excess weight can create chronic inflammation in the body, and fat cells can produce estrogen — a hormone that, when present at high levels over a woman’s lifetime, can raise the likelihood of developing breast cancer.
Importantly, she emphasizes that physical activity doesn’t have to be extreme or strenuous to be beneficial. A light walk can also suffice.
“Exercise doesn’t have to mean suddenly training for a triathlon or doing something completely new,” Dr. Comen says.
For many patients, she adds, a cancer diagnosis can become a catalyst to prioritize their health and build sustainable habits that support their well‑being.
Maintain a Healthy Weight.
Dr. Sairah Ahmed, an associate professor in cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet that staying as physically strong as possible can make a meaningful difference for people preparing to start treatment.
“The more physically fit you are going through your cancer treatment, the fewer side effects you’ll have and the faster you’ll get back to your normal quality of life,” she explains.
She also stresses that well‑being isn’t just about the body. Emotional resilience plays a major role for both patients and the people supporting them.
“Stress control is often something that isn’t talked about enough, but there is a lot of stress — for the patient going through cancer and for the family who has to support them,” she says.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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