18 celebrities who have spoken about having cancer

The former co-host of the "Today" show wrote on her website in September 2022 that she had been diagnosed with and treated for early-stage breast cancer over the summer.

The journalist said the health scare could have been worse if her doctor hadn't reminded her she was overdue for a mammogram. She said the mammogram and a breast ultrasound led her doctor to conduct a biopsy.

Couric said she was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation. She said she will continue to take a medication for five years.

The actress told the Washington Post in 2016 she saw eight doctors over the course of two years before she was properly diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2000.

The "Nanny" star underwent a hysterectomy to treat the disease and wrote about her experiences in the book "Cancer Schmancer." Drescher has since formed a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women recognize the early warning signs of the disease.

"I'm not glad I had cancer. I don't wish it on anyone," she told People in October 2018. "But I am better for it. It's deepened me as a human being. It's forced me to have a life that resonates with other people's needs, with compassion and a sensitivity to other people's pain."

In September 2022, the "Grace and Frankie" star said she had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. On Instagram, she shared she'd started chemotherapy treatments for it.

Previously, in January 2018 the actress showed up to an interview with BUILD Series with a bandage on her lip and explained she'd recently had a growth removed.

"I just want to explain the bandage. I just had a cancer taken from my lip," Fonda said. "I thought it was going to heal in time before I came before you, but it's fine."

In an interview with Howard Stern later that day, Fonda said doctors had biopsied the growth and she was going to be "fine."

She had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and later underwent a mastectomy.

After sharing she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, the "Veep" star is cancer-free.

The actress underwent three rounds of chemotherapy and told Jimmy Kimmel the good news when she visited his late-night show that October.

The actress also said that she decided to speak out about her diagnosis and share updates on her treatment because she wanted to take the opportunity to advocate for affordable health care.

"I think it's an important conversation to have about health and health care," she told Kimmel. "I very much considered the notion that as someone battling this disease, the idea that I might not have health insurance, which I do thanks to my great union, is completely terrifying."

The "Zoolander" star underwent surgery to remove a tumor when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014. The actor gave fans an update on his health when he visited the "Today" show in 2017 and revealed he was "three years, now, cancer-free."

Stiller said he came forward about his own experience so that he could encourage men to undergo early detection screening tests.

"And I'm really happy that getting the word out there, about the PSA [prostate-specific antigen] test, has actually made a little bit of a difference, I think," he said during his appearance on the "Today" show.

He continued, "A lot of people talk to me, and also the United States Preventive Services Task Force changed their guideline and recommended that you speak with your doctor about taking the test. So, I think it's a good move."

In September 2018, the then-70-year-old singer and actress announced she was postponing her North American concert tour after she was diagnosed with cancer for a third time.

In a Facebook post, Newton-John wrote that a tumor had metastasized in her lower back and she was undergoing radiation treatment.

The "Grease" star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She underwent nine months of chemotherapy and had a mastectomy. In 2013, doctors found that the cancer had returned and had spread to her shoulder.

The actress died at age 73 in August 2022.

"Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends," her husband John Easterling wrote in an Instagram post. "Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer."

"The Sex and the City" star underwent six and a half weeks of radiation therapy and a lumpectomy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.

In 2011, the actress told CURE that a routine mammogram was able to detect the tumor while it was still small.

"My cancer was found during a routine mammogram when I was 40. Because my mother had breast cancer twice, I started getting mammograms when I was 35," she said. "I think that speaks volumes of how important it is to get mammograms, how important it is to get them regularly and how important it is to get them young. If I had started when I was 40, maybe they wouldn't have caught it."

The "Bad Moms" star underwent a double mastectomy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.

In 2017, the actress took the precautionary measure to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed because she's a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation, which increases her risk of developing cancer.

"When I first came out about my breast cancer I didn't want to talk about it, but I had to, because young women were getting it, and people weren't understanding that," Applegate told People in April 2018. "They weren't understanding that women that were 36 were getting breast cancer, or women that were 28 were getting breast cancer, and they were opting not to get MRIs when they were high-risk because of the cost. My activism came out."

The "X-Men" star has had multiple cancer scares and surgeries since he was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2013.

"It's a basal cell carcinoma," the 50-year-old actor said when he appeared on "Live! with Kelly" in 2017 and had a bandage on his nose. "Everything's fine. It is skin cancer, but the least dangerous form of it. So it's just something I have to get out."

The actor has been public about his health issues and used his own battle as an opportunity to encourage people to wear sunscreen. He has been diagnosed with cancer six times, per The Independent.

"The Affair" star has spoken about how surprised she was to have been diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 44 years old.

"The Affair" star told Everyday Health that she was, at times, more afraid of the side effects of chemotherapy than of the cancer itself.

"I was very shocked and surprised because of my age," she told Coping with Cancer magazine in 2012, per Best Life. "I've since learned that it's not that shocking; there are plenty of young women diagnosed with breast cancer."

The comedian told People in 2011 she was surprised by her breast cancer diagnosis since she recently had a mammogram and a biopsy, which both came back negative. It was only after Sykes had breast-reduction surgery, that her doctors found the cancer.

"I was a size triple-D. That's a lot of boob, so I really wanted the reductions," Sykes told People. "After the surgery they sent the tissue samples in, which is standard procedure, and it tested positive for DCIS [ductal carcinoma in situ, a noninvasive type of breast cancer]."

Sykes had a double mastectomy to treat the cancer and told People, "I have a history of breast cancer in my family too, so I was going to do whatever it took to reduce my chances of getting an invasive cancer."

The "Dexter" star told The New York Times in 2010 he had anxiety about dying young since his father died of prostate cancer at age 39.

The actor said he was diagnosed with cancer when he was 38 and then underwent chemotherapy.

"I think I've been preoccupied since I was 11, and my father died, with the idea of the age 39: Would I live that long? What would that be like? To discover that I had the Hodgkin's was alarming, but at the same time I felt kind of bemused, like: Wow. Huh. How interesting," he told The New York Times.

While finishing up treatment for stage-two breast cancer, the singer took to the Grammys stage alongside Joss Stone to pay tribute to Janis Joplin in 2005.

In 2018, the singer told Entertainment Weekly that she immediately wanted to participate in tribute, and then she realized, "Oh, I'm going to be bald."

The singer added that she had to really consider if she was going to have enough energy.

"I felt it was an opportunity for me to step back into what I loved to do," she said. "I mean, 10 years ago when you were diagnosed, people thought, 'That's it, she's out of here,' you know? So I wanted to show people that no, I've been through hell, yeah, this is awful but I am not dying. I wanted to present myself as, 'I'm back, I'm not weak, this has made me stronger.' I just didn't want anyone to make fun of me."

The singer had a lumpectomy and seven weeks of radiation treatment when she a diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. In 2016, she told reporters at the #BlogHer16 exposition that her diagnosis was "a real game changer."

"At that point, I was 44, and I was the picture of great health," she said. "I've had a lot of people say, 'Yeah, these things help you redefine your life,' but for me, I really refined my life.I began to really hack away at the things that were not important anymore and the things that were energy sucking. I learned how to say no."

She also later shared that she almost skipped the mammogram that helped her diagnose the cancer.

"When I found out I had breast cancer, I was 36 years old with no family history," the E! News personality told Health.com in April 2018. "It was such a shock and I was going through IVF, and my doctor told me I had to get a mammogram before treatment."

When a lumpectomy failed to remove all the cancer, Rancic underwent a double mastectomy and has been cancer-free ever since.

When the actress was diagnosed with early-stage ovarian cancer in 2003, she kept the diagnosis as well as her treatment — surgery and nine months of chemotherapy — private.

Bates told People in 2018 that her agent at the time didn't want her to be the "poster child" for ovarian cancer.

"I didn't want anyone to know, but it really took a lot out of me," she said.

In 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer the actress decided it was time to go public with her health problems. She underwent a double mastectomy and told People she was lucky not to have to undergo radiation or treatment again.

Ater her treatment, she was diagnosed with lymphedema, which is when blocked lymph nodes cause painful or uncomfortable swelling.

"It's progressive and it's incurable and it keeps going," Bates said on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in 2019, per Today. "You can get infections that put you in the hospital and it's congenital, there's about 50,000 of those people who are kids who've grown up with it."

By the time "The Sopranos" star went public about her 2003 breast-cancer diagnosis, she had already completed treatment.

The actress said in a 2009 interview with Parade that she believes her long-held sobriety helped her beat the disease.

"I had really been taking care of myself for about 15 years before I got sick—not drinking, not smoking, eating well—so I fared very well," she said. "They gave me very strong chemo drugs. I was so lucky that two of the biggest things in my life—my sobriety and my breast cancer—happened in the order they happened."

The "Charmed" star was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and underwent chemo, radiation and surgery to treat the disease. In a 2018 interview with "Good Morning America," the actress focused on the positives that came out of her diagnosis.

"I think it made me a better actor, I also think it made me a better human being," she said. "It takes down all your walls, all your barriers, everything that life sort of threw at you...you're guarding yourself so yea, that all comes tumbling down."

Doherty was very open about her treatment and frequently shared updates on social media. She went into remission in 2017. In 2020, she said the cancer returned and was stage four.