‘I’d Like to See a World Beyond Cancer’: Actress Olivia Newton-John, 72, Gives Update on Her Metastatic Breast Cancer Journey

The 72-year-old tells Closer about her enthusiasm for funding cancer research, saying, “I'm very excited to fund research, to look into treating people in a kinder way." Newton-John has created her own foundation, The Olivia Newton-John Foundation. She explains how this organization came about, saying, “After having lived for years with different cancers, and having surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, I thought it would be wonderful if we could find different kinds of treatments for people going through cancer.”

Related: Actress Olivia Newton-John Says Kelly Preston's Passing "Strengthened Her Determination" to Help Others With Cancer

She continues, “I've been lucky enough to be married to an amazing man, ‘Amazon’ John [Easterling], who's a plant medicine man. So I've taken a lot of plant medicine over the last years and have done well. We want to raise money to fund the studies on plant medicine.”

For as much career and advocacy success as she’s had, Newton-John says there’s still a lot more she aspires to do. “I'd like to see a world beyond cancer,” she tells Closer. “I think I've accomplished everything I dreamt of and more, and I'm so grateful for that. I want to be able to give back and help other people going through cancer. I don't think it can get more important than that.”

Olivia’s Breast Cancer Journey

Newton-John currently has advanced-stage breast cancer. She's shared her cancer journey very publicly, too, and used it as a way to raise awareness around the disease. The singer was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She underwent chemotherapy and had a partial mastectomy (surgical removal of cancerous breast tissue). In 2017, Newton-John's cancer returned and it had spread to other parts of her body. She underwent radiation treatment for the recurrence.

Related: When Should You Consider a Mastectomy?

In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Newton-John spoke about her battle with breast cancer. She says, “My dream is to find kinder ways to treat cancer. Because all of you watching, if you’ve been through chemotherapy, you’ve been through radiation, there’s got to be a way that we can boost the body’s immune system without poisoning it.”

Related: Some Cancer Patients Swear By Cannabis Oil; What's the Status of Legalizing the Potent Pain Remedy Across the U.S.?

Newton-John is a big proponent of using marijuana as a way to mitigate the pain of cancer. She says, “Cannabis has been my go-to for pain, for sleep, for everything. In fact, when I was in the hospital two years ago and I was on high doses of morphine for the pain from my sacrum that broke from metastases, I weaned myself off the morphine with cannabis.”

Olivia Newton-John Says She Battles Nerve Pain & Used Medical Cannabis to Get Off Prescription MedsNew Update on Remarkable Breast Cancer Journey

Screening for Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is typically detected via mammogram, which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer. Women with an average risk of breast cancer meaning, women who have no family history of the disease and no incidence of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation should get annual mammograms age 45 to 54.

Related: When You're Getting a Mammogram, Ask About Dense Breasts

Women with a higher risk of the disease should begin screening earlier. In an earlier interview, Dr. Connie Lehman, chief of the Breast Imaging Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, emphasizes the importance of screening. She says, “If you haven’t gone through menopause yet, I think it’s very important that you have a mammogram every year. We know that cancers grow more rapidly in our younger patients, and having that annual mammogram can be lifesaving.”

Related: Getting to Know Your Breasts with Self-Exams

“After menopause, it may be perfectly acceptable to reduce that frequency to every two years,” says Dr. Lehman. “But what I’m most concerned about is the women who haven’t been in for a mammogram for two, three, or four years, those women that have never had a mammogram. We all agree regular screening mammography saves lives.”

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