Shannen Doherty says she hopes she ‘can squeeze out another three to five years’ of life as she opens up on stage 4 cancer
"It's important to think of each therapy as a horse."
*Warning: Article contains discussion of cancer, cancer treatment and terminal diagnosis.*
Shannen Doherty has opened up about her latest goal while managing her stage four cancer diagnosis.
The actor - best known for her role in Beverly Hills, 90210 - was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2015.
Despite going into remission two years later, the cancer returned, with Doherty announcing she'd been diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2020.
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The 52-year-old has since spoken out about the latest goal she's set herself as to how many years she wants to try and live for in light of her diagnosis becoming terminal.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, Doherty underwent a mastectomy alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
By April 2017, the Charmed star revealed to fans on Instagram she'd gone into remission, however, in 2019 the cancer came back and in 2020 she was diagnosed with metastatic stage four cancer.
In June 2023, Doherty updated followers on social media her cancer had spread to her brain and five months earlier, she'd undergone surgery to try and remove the tumor.
She's since opened up about her hopes for future treatment in an episode of her podcast.
In Monday's (January 1) episode of her podcast Let's Be Clear, the actor opened up about her hope for cancer treatments in the future in discussion with her oncologist Dr Lawrence Piro.
Dr Piro reflected on treatment as being like in a horse race.
In a clip of the podcast posted to Doherty's Instagram, he said: "I always say that, you know, it's important to think of each therapy as a horse and you wanna ride in a horse race, you wanna ride every horse as long as it rides."
Doherty added that she and Dr Piro 'always talk about the fact that we just need to squeeze out another three to five years' for her to live.
Why? Well, the actor reflected in that time there's 'going to be T-cell therapy' or other options to help treat cancer.
She continued: "There’s going to be a lot more options that will give another five years.”
"Then in those five years, there’s a whole other group of options, and eventually there’s going to be a cure.
"So, I always look at it as I'm - the horse analogy is a really good one - like I'm constantly chasing, I'm riding those horses so that I get to the fresh set of horses and I'm trying to get the one that I'm on right now to like last as long as humanely possible."
In an interview with People, Doherty echoed: "I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not - I’m not done."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature.
Topics: Cancer, Health, Celebrity, Mental Health
Poppy Bilderbeck