Shannen Doherty shares ‘miracle’ update after breast cancer diagnosis
Shannen Doherty has shared a “miraculous” health update in her years-long battle with cancer, describing a new kind of treatment that feels like God “is intervening”.
The American actor, best known for shows such as Charmed and Beverly Hills, 90210, first announced her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015.
Doherty, 52, went into remission in 2017 but, in February 2020, confirmed the cancer had returned to stage four.
Last November, she told her fans the cancer had spread to her bones, but that she will keep fighting the disease through treatment because “I’m not done with living”.
Now, Doherty has shared more positive news about receiving a “new cancer infusion” that she says feels like divine intervention.
Doherty explained on Monday’s (29 January) episode of the Let’s Be Clear podcast: “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.’
“And yeah, after the sixth or seventh treatment, we really saw it breaking down the blood-brain barrier.”
She added her “decision to roll the dice” and continue the treatment despite not seeing its early impact feels like a “miracle right now”.
“Do I call that a miracle? Yeah,” the Memphis native said. “For me, that happens to be a miracle right now. That I sort of rolled the dice and said, ‘Let’s keep going.’”
Since the diagnosis in 2020, Doherty has been documenting her fight with cancer on social media to capture the reality of living with the disease.
So far, she has undergone a mastectomy, chemo, and radiation therapies.
During a candid interview last November, Doherty said: “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better,” she said. “I’m just not – I’m not done.”
She also reflected on learning the cancer had come back in 2020, adding it led to her looking for “the bigger purpose in life”.
Doherty also said she hoped to get more involved in emerging clinical trials for new forms of treatment, while “moving forward” with her life and continuing to work.
“People just assume that it means you can’t walk, you can’t eat, you can’t work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age – ‘You’re done, you’re retired,’ and we’re not,’” she said.
“We’re vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward.”