Shannen Doherty Reveals She Has Stage 4 Breast Cancer Three Years After Being Declared Cancer-Free

Source: Twitter

Beverly Hills 90210 alum Shannen Doherty has revealed that she has stage 4 breast cancer. The actress opened up about her diagnosis on Good Morning America on Tuesday, and she admitted that she is “petrified.”

Three years ago, Doherty went into remission after battling breast cancer for two years. The 48-year-old said that she found out her cancer was back about a year ago, just before her 90210 co-star Luke Perry died after suffering a stroke.

.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: @DohertyShannen opens up about her private health battle. “I’m stage four – my cancer came back.”@arobachhttps://t.co/IvsAr3odajpic.twitter.com/Amhcm7x5Q4

— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 4, 2020

“I don’t think that I’ve processed it,” explained Doherty. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”

Doherty says that she’s kept her latest cancer battle private because she wanted to prove she could still work. She did take part in the reboot BH90210 last summer, and she says she did that in honor of Perry.

She explained that it was weird to be diagnosed and then have someone who was seemingly healthy go first. Doherty admitted that Perry’s death was shocking, and the least she could do was honor him by joining her former cast members for the reboot.

Doherty says that she has opened up to a few people in her life about her cancer battle, including co-star Brian Austin Green. Doherty confessed that she has moments of great anxiety where she tells herself that she can’t do this, and Green is the person she told about what she’s dealing with.

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Doherty says that Green helped her through a lot, and he would call her prior to shooting and tell her that no matter what happens, he has her back. He would also look at her and tell her “We got this, kiddo.”

The reason that the actress decided to reveal her latest diagnosis is because of a lawsuit she filed against State Farm insurance. Doherty sued the company after she claimed they didn’t pay her enough after she filed a claim when her home was damaged in the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

Shannen Doherty said that she was worried that her cancer news would be discovered in court documents, and she wanted people to hear it from her. Doherty wants to control the narrative and have things be real and authentic, and she doesn’t want it to be twisted.

According to Page Six, the five-year survival rate for people suffering from stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent. Doherty says that the thing she wants to do most right now is make an impact, and be remembered for something bigger than herself.