After lung cancer, breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths for adult females in America. Since 1990, the number of women who have died from this has steadily decreased, fortunately. Here is a look at six celebrities who have experienced this awful disease and are helping to spread awareness by sharing their stories.
Number Six: Tig Notaro
Two weeks after her mom’s death, this comedian was diagnosed with cancer in both of her breasts. She underwent a double mastectomy to take care of it.
Number Five: Robin Roberts
One of the faces of the show, Good Morning America, was diagnosed with this terrible cancer. After taking a bit of time to mull her situation over, she ended up deciding to make her story open to the public, hoping to help other women undergoing similar struggles.
Number Four: Edie Falco
The star of Nurse Jackie and The Sopranos said that she had alerted a clinic when she felt a lump, but that they told her it was nothing to worry about. When the actress felt it again, she went to get a biopsy and the results were positive.
Number Three: Melissa Etheridge
This singer discovered a lump in her breast and had it confirmed as cancer by a doctor. After surgery to get rid of it, the surgeons also had to remove all 15 of the woman’s lymph nodes to make sure the disease had not spread throughout the rest of her body. After this, she had to go through several rounds of chemo along with radiation.
Number Two: Christina Applegate
Since her mother had had the illness, Applegate had been adamant about getting regular mammograms since she was only 30. In ’07, her doctor recommended to the celeb that she also get an MRI. Luckily, her caution paid off. The cancer was caught early on, so doctors prescribed some weeks of radiation instead of chemo. Now the star helps spread awareness about the issue.
Number One: Cynthia Nixon
Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon didn’t want publicity about her breast cancer. The last thing she wanted was paparazzi bugging her at the hospital. Thanks for reading our list, and we hope it brought you some inspiration.
