It’s been nearly a year since Shannen Doherty revealed her breast cancer diagnosis to the public.
During that time, the actress has shared her daily struggles with fans in hopes of providing inspiration for others who are battling illnesses and raising awareness of a disease that remains one of the leading causes of death for women.
Last week, Doherty shaved her head and shared footage of the difficult moment on her social media pages.
Shortly thereafter, Doherty wrote a candid post about what an “impossibly tough day” it was and thanked her husband and friends for helping her through it.
Today, the 45-year-old shared the sad news that her cancer has spread and that she’s soon to undergo another round of difficult treatments.
“I had breast cancer that spread to the lymph nodes, and from one of my surgeries we discovered that some of the cancer cells might have actually gone out of the lymph nodes,” Doherty tells ET’s Jennifer Peros.
“So for that reason, we are doing chemo, and then after chemo, I’ll do radiation.”
“The unknown is always the scariest part,” she shares. “Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work? You know, am I going to have to go through this again, or am I going to get secondary cancer?
“Everything else is manageable. Pain is manageable, you know living without a breast is manageable, it’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”
Doherty also opened up about her decision to be so public with her battle:
“It’s easier to live with having cancer if I know I helped at least one person,” Doherty says.
We wish Doherty all the best, and we hope that the knowledge that she’s helped many, many people makes this process somewhat more bearable.