Accepting a Cancer Diagnosis
- "It's part of life at this point." That's what beloved 50-year-old actress Shannen Doherty is saying of her stage 4 breast cancer battle.
- Doherty's battle with breast cancer dates back to 2015; her cancer went into remission, but she announced in February 2020 that her cancer had returned, and it had spread to other parts of her body.
- There's no cure for metastatic breast cancer; that can be a hard thing to accept if you or a loved one has received this diagnosis. Seeking mental health support can be helpful .
That's what beloved 50-year-old actress Shannen Doherty said of her stage 4 breast cancer battle Tuesday during a virtual panel for her upcoming Lifetime movie, List of a Lifetime. The movie centers around a woman who's been diagnosed with breast cancer, just like Doherty.
Read MoreDoherty's Breast Cancer Journey
Doherty's battle with breast cancer dates back to 2015, which is when she was first diagnosed with the disease; a lump was found in her breast, and it turned out to be malignant (cancerous). To fight the cancer, she underwent hormone therapy, but the treatments were ineffective; the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
The actress underwent a single mastectomy surgery to remove a breast; she also had chemotherapy and radiation treatments. One common treatment path for many people fighting breast cancer is surgery, such as a mastectomy or lumpectomy. (A lumpectomy is a surgery to remove cancerous breast tissue along with a rim of normal tissue.)
Doherty's cancer went into remission, but she announced in February 2020 that her cancer had returned, and it had spread to other parts of her body. This is stage 4 cancer, also known as metastatic disease.
Stage 4, or metastatic, cancers have spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other parts of the body. When breast cancer spreads, it most commonly goes to the bones, liver and lungs. It may also spread to the brain or other organs.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a breast oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explained in a previous interview, "With advanced disease, the goal of treatment is to keep you as stable as possible, slow the tumor growth and improve your quality of life."
Metastatic Breast Cancer: You Are Not a Statistic
Accepting a Cancer Diagnosis
There's no cure for metastatic breast cancer; that can be a hard thing to accept if you or a loved one receive this diagnosis.
"What we find is that everyone comes to acceptance in their own time with support that some people never really reach acceptance," Marshall Gold, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, tells SurvivorNet.
Prioritizing Mental Health & Acceptance After an Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis
"I think for me as a palliative care provider," Gold adds, "it's just meeting people where they are in their illness and supporting them regardless of where they are on that trajectory of acceptance or denial."
Acceptance looks different for everyone, as Gold says. Remember that battling cancer is a very personal experience and there's no right or wrong way to grieve.
"I think the ways we can support these women are just to honor really how horrible the diagnosis is and the uncertainty that lies ahead and to try to reframe what is most important to you," Gold says. "What do you continue to live for? What brings you joy? To try to see that little silver lining in a horrible situation."
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.