Surviving Cancer
Though they may seem larger than life, celebrities are human just like the rest of us. These are the celebrities who were diagnosed with cancer—and lived to share their difficult experiences.
Sheryl Crow
In 2006, 44-year-old Sheryl Crow received the scary diagnosis of breast cancer following a routine mammogram.
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Sheryl Crow
Speaking about her cancer, Crow has said, "Time kind of stands still [during an event like this] and it immediately puts people into an introspective, life-evaluating mind-set, and we drew closer as a family than we already were—and we were a pretty close group.”
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Michael C. Hall
Michael C. Hall is best known for his role in the television show Dexter. In his late 30s, the actor discovered he had Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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Michael C. Hall
Though Hall decided to be very private about the diagnosis, he eventually shared his truth before the 2010 Golden Globes: "I'm glad I did, because I really underestimated how much that would be a source of inspiration or strength to other people."
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Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne has had her fair share of health scares. During the early 2000s, she underwent chemotherapy and beat colon cancer. When she later discovered she was at high risk for developing breast cancer, Osbourne decided to go ahead with a double mastectomy.
Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart has had two kinds of cancer. In 2000, he faced a scary thyroid cancer diagnosis that was luckily very treatable. Speaking about the experience, he shared, "I don't want to pretend I fought cancer for months and months. It was really easy to get rid of, but I did lose my voice—totally gone." However, this wasn't his last brush with cancer.
Rod Stewart
In 2016, Stewart had to beat another cancer—this time, prostate cancer. He privately battled the disease for three years. Though he's in remission now, he has urged everyone to see their doctors and have regular tests done.
BBC, The Graham Norton Show (2007-)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus discovered she had breast cancer in 2018. Following her diagnosis, she shared the news with her fans on Twitter, writing, "1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let's fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality."
After beating her cancer, Louis-Dreyfus remains devoted to raising breast cancer awareness.
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Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates has survived cancer twice. With breast cancer running in her family, Bates assumed that she'd one day have to face the disease. However, her first diagnosis was actually stage I ovarian cancer in 2003, and she had to undergo nine rounds of chemotherapy.
Kathy Bates
In 2012, Bates decided to get an MRI because she hadn't been feeling well. She wondered if perhaps her ovarian cancer had returned. Her diagnosis? Breast cancer.
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Kathy Bates
This time, her battle was even more intense: “Breast cancer was much more difficult for me than the ovarian. Obviously, losing one’s breast on the outside of the body is much more noticeable. And I was in a lot of pain, which I wasn’t with ovarian.”
Sofia Vergara
When Sofia Vergara was only 28, she discovered a lump in her throat. After consulting a doctor, she realized she had thyroid cancer. Her treatment included surgery and radiation.
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Sofia Vergara
In a later interview, she explained how the cancer diagnosis blindsided her: "I felt totally healthy, and suddenly they tell me I have cancer? I was scared. I immediately thought of my child."
Melissa Etheridge
During her tour in 2004, 43-year-old Melissa Etheridge identified a sizable lump in her breast, which ended up being cancer—a disease that ran in the musician's family.
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Melissa Etheridge
Not long after she completed treatment, Etheridge rocked her bald head at the Grammys and even performed. Speaking about the experience, she told Shape magazine, "I've always been upfront. So I said, 'why should I hide my truth?' I had cancer. I had chemotherapy. I lost my hair. There's no shame in that."
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda has had several health problems, but her skin cancer diagnosis might be the most daunting one. According to the actress, it's an "ongoing process."
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Jane Fonda
In a British Vogue interview, she opened up about her cancer: "I've had a lot of cancer. I was a sun-worshipper. When I have a day off, I frequently go to my skin doctor and have things cut off me by a surgeon."
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Kylie Minogue
During her 2005 tour, Kylie Minogue's doctors missed the fact that she had breast cancer. Luckily, the singer decided to get a second opinion and that's when she found out the truth.
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Kylie Minogue
Minogue underwent treatment, which included a lumpectomy and chemo. Based on her experience, she shared, "If you have any doubt, go back again."
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Ashley Park
At the young age of 15, Ashley Park had to fight leukemia, undergoing chemotherapy before reaching remission. Today, she's doing her best not to dwell on the potential long-term effects of her treatment.
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Ashley Park
Park told Cosmopolitan magazine, “I didn’t want to know that I might be infertile or that my heart might stop working or any of that stuff because once you say it, you’re thinking about it. Even though my body beat the disease, if I let it change anything, it’s won.”
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Edie Falco
Edie Falco learned about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2003, while working on the hit television show The Sopranos. Throughout filming, she kept her health struggle a secret.
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Edie Falco
Falco later shared, "When the cancer went into remission, I was relieved, of course, but it was also strangely depressing...it occurs to you you're really on your own, and it's a bit nerve-racking."
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
Peter Criss
Peter Criss is the original drummer and one of the co-founders of the band Kiss. In 2008, the musician found a lump on his chest area during a workout. After seeking a medical opinion, he found out he had breast cancer. A lumpectomy quickly followed.
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Peter Criss
Due to his experience, Criss has acknowledged the unfortunate stigma of male breast cancer and is devoted to raising awareness: "It's a disease for women but 2% of men (out of all breast cancer victims) get this in the world and they need to be educated about it."
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman has been treated six times for basal cell carcinoma, which is a form of skin cancer.
Hugh Jackman
Though the actor is healthy and frequently gets checked by doctors, he has taken to social media to remind his followers to wear sunscreen: “It’s just not worth it, no matter how much you want to tan. Trust me, trust me, trust me. Put some sunscreen on. You’ll still have an incredible time out there.”
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Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro is one of the most famous Hollywood actors, but in 2003, he faced a prostate cancer diagnosis at the age of 60. Following a prostatectomy, the actor went into remission.
For De Niro, discovering his cancer early made all the difference as prostate cancer can be difficult to identify.
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges had been experiencing lymphoma symptoms like night sweats, but had no clue that he had cancer: “I was doing those fight scenes for the first episode of The Old Man and didn’t know that I had a 9-by-12-inch tumor in my body.”
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Jeff Bridges
Filming on The Old Man halted while Bridges sought the treatment he needed, and one year later, he announced that he was in remission. Chemotherapy had shrunk his large tumor "to the size of a marble."
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Christina Applegate
Cancer runs in actress Christina Applegate's family, which is why she decided to book frequent screenings in her thirties. At the age of 36, she was diagnosed with breast cancer—but thanks to her early detection plan, her cancer was treatable.
Christina Applegate
As her mother had also gotten breast cancer in her thirties, Applegate underwent tests for BRCA mutations and discovered she indeed had a BRCA1 gene mutation. This meant she was at a high risk of getting cancer again down the road.
Christina Applegate
After finding out about her gene mutation, Applegate decided to undergo a double mastectomy to treat her cancer and diminish her chances of relapsing.
Christina Applegate
The actress has said, "I am a 36-year-old person with breast cancer, and not many people know that that happens to women my age or women in their 20s. This is my opportunity now to go out and fight as hard as I can for early detection.”
Cynthia Nixon
In 2012, Cynthia Nixon faced a breast cancer diagnosis, but decided to keep this a secret. It wasn't until she was in the clear that the actress shared what she went through: "I didn't really want to make it public while I was going through it. I didn't want paparazzi at the hospital, that kind of thing."
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Ben Stiller
In 2016, 48-year-old Ben Stiller had to seek treatment for prostate cancer. Two years later, she shared in an interview, "I'm doing great. I was really fortunate that my course of treatment was basically an operation and that was it."
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes discovered she had breast cancer in a surprising way. She had a breast reduction, which led doctors to discover that the actress had ductal carcinoma in situ. Though she'd detected the cancer very early, Sykes had an important decision to make.
Wanda Sykes
As the actress's family has a history of breast cancer, she decided to undergo a bilateral mastectomy.
Speaking about this drastic decision on The Ellen Degeneres Show, she said, "I had the choice of, you can go back every three months and get it checked. Have a mammogram, MRI every three months just to see what it’s doing. But, I’m not good at keeping on top of stuff. I’m sure I’m overdue for an oil change and a teeth cleaning already.”
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci was shocked by his cancer diagnosis as he felt as though he was "very healthy." The actor had an extremely large, inoperable tumor at the base of his tongue.
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Stanley Tucci
Tucci's treatment plan took a terrible toll on him. He endured 35 days of high-dose radiation, followed by chemotherapy. He later shared, “The treatments were brutal. I lost 35 pounds. I couldn’t eat and had a feeding tube for six months.”
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Stanley Tucci
However, despite this difficult experience, Tucci has acknowledged that he was very lucky. In the two years it took for him to receive a proper diagnosis, his cancer could have spread—but it didn't.
Stanley Tucci
Tucci's cancer made him realize how important it is to advocate for your health: “If you feel like there’s something [wrong], you just have to go get checked. Catch it early…. Don’t sit around and wait.”
Jaclyn Smith
At the age of 56, Jaclyn Smith found out she had breast cancer after a routine mammogram. She underwent a lumpectomy and radiation and survived.
Jaclyn Smith
In an interview with HealthWomen, Smith shared what she would tell her past self at the moment she learned of her diagnosis: "Oh, well, not to think it's a death sentence because I really did panic. I had these young kids and they're everything and I thought, Oh, am I going to be here? And I didn't want to tell anybody. And then one of the rag sheets got it and then it was out in the open and then I realized that we get our support from people and that it's OK. And that's what I'd tell myself, Don't shut yourself into a room."
Rita Wilson
In early 2015, Rita Wilson discovered she had a form of breast cancer—invasive lobular carcinoma.
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Rita Wilson
Four years later, a recovered and healthy Wilson shared an Instagram post that detailed how scary the initial diagnosis was. She also revealed what she told her husband, Tom Hanks: "So I had a serious discussion with my husband that if anything happens, I wanted him to be super sad for a very long time 😊 and I’d also like a party, a celebration."
Her experience inspired her song, "Throw Me a Party."
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