Shannen Doherty Shares 'Miracle' Update In Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis
Shannen Doherty has good news about her ongoing fight with stage 4 breast cancer.
The “Beverly Hills, 90210” alum has made no qualms about sharing how difficult things have been since she was first diagnosed in 2015, but revealed Monday on her podcast “Let’s Be Clear” that her new treatment is going well — and possibly a “miracle.”
“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,’” said Doherty in the episode.
The actor shared last year that her cancer had dangerously spread to her brain.
“And yeah, after the sixth or seventh treatment, we really saw it breaking down the blood-brain barrier,” she said Monday. “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.’”
The blood-brain barrier is a protective layer of cells that keep infections from entering the brain. Scientists are researching how cancer cells can sometimes cross the barrier and enter the brain, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The “Charmed” actor noted that she’s careful about comparing her journey to anyone else’s. Her radiation oncologist Dr. Amin Mirhadi said on the podcast Monday that he’s seen similar cancers defeated before — even ones that are typically terminal.
Doherty suggested this latest development is “a miracle of maybe God intervening” in her struggle “and saying, ‘I’m gonna give her a break.’” The 52-year-old also said people often look for miracles “in all the wrong places.”
Doherty was first diagnosed in 2015. Her cancer went into remission in 2017, until 2019.
Beyond health issues, Doherty has also had to deal with personal ordeals. She filed for divorce last April from Kurt Iswarienko after 11 years of marriage, and found out that her husband had allegedly been unfaithful right before undergoing brain surgery.
Doherty went into remission in 2017, only for the cancer to return in 2019. Even when she learned that it had spread to her bones in November, however, she thanked “God” for her life.
“Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don’t know,” Doherty said Monday.
“I can die walking outside of my house … Or I can die of cancer,” she continued. “But all I can do is leave 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?’”