The ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ alum has been candid about her stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
Shannen Doherty has a positive update regarding her stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
On Monday, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum released the latest episode of her Let’s Be Clear podcast, where she spoke with her radiation oncologist, Dr. Amin Mirhadi. Together, the host and the doctor discussed Doherty’s personal cancer journey as well as how the actress sorts through information about cancer and not comparing her diagnosis with anyone else’s.
Doherty, who was first diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2015, had a positive update as she spoke about a new treatment.
When speaking about instances when Dr. Mirhadi has seen circumstances turn around, after being especially terminal, Doherty shared her own “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,'” she says. “And yeah, after the sixth or seventh treatment we really saw it breaking down the blood brain barrier. 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 Charmed actress said that her other oncologist felt comfortable with her continuing the treatment, and with his support, she was able to get some hopeful results.
“And that it’s actually breaking down that blood brain barrier is actually a miracle of that drug, a miracle of maybe God intervening and saying, ‘I’m gonna give her a break.’ Sometimes you’re looking for miracles in all the wrong places and they’re right in front of your face,” she adds.
What’s more, Doherty shared that having both a positive mindset and hope has had a positive effect on her fight.
“Every day is a gift and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there. I think it’s so important,” she says. “Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don’t know. I can die walking outside of my house and a tree falling on me or a bus hitting me, whatever. Or I can die of cancer. But all I can do is live 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?'”
She adds, “I believe that positivity that you bring into your life, I think it helps with your whole body. I think that it helps you fight the cancer. Mind over matter a little bit.”
In 2020, it was revealed that Doherty’s breast cancer had returned and was at stage 4. Then, over the course of 2023, Doherty said that the cancer had spread to her brain and to her bones.