According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women in America will struggle with invasive breast cancer at some point in their lives. The cancer kills almost 40,000 women per year, and 2.5 million women living in America today are survivors of this terrible disease. With so many women affected each year, some of them are bound to be public figures. The treatment and recovery from cancer is a hard road for any woman to travel, but these women chose to do it while the world watched. We salute their courage and their willingness to share their experience with us to help raise public awareness about breast cancer.
Christina Applegate
Her story: In April of 2008, the then-36-year old actress was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. She had been getting mammograms regularly since age 30, since her mother was a survivor of the same type of cancer. Her doctor recommended that she also get an MRI to get a better look at her breast tissue, which was when the mass was discovered. Thankfully the cancer had not spread from her left breast.
Response: Applegate kept mum about her condition for over a month, but finally rallied and made her diagnosis public. Following her diagnosis, she appeared in a TV special entitled “Stand Up to Cancer,” which helped raise funds for cancer research. In 2009, Applegate founded Right Action for Women, a charitable foundation dedicated to breast cancer screening for women.
Prognosis: Applegate is a carrier of the BRCA 1 genetic mutation, which places women at a higher risk for developing breast cancer. This prompted her to have a double mastectomy, in hopes of reducing the chance of the cancer’s return. She is currently starring in the NBC comedy Up All Night and her cancer is in remission.
Elizabeth Edwards
Her story: The ex-wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards was diagnosed with the most common type of breast cancer (invasive ductal cancer) in 2004. She went into remission after her first round of treatment.
Response: Edwards became an activist for both cancer and women’s health issues, using her status as a public figure on her husband’s campaign trails to draw attention to issues that were important to her.
Prognosis: Unfortunately, Edwards’ cancer returned in 2007. She went on to develop Stage 4 cancer (meaning the disease spread to her bones and other organs). She passed away in December of 2010 at age 61.
Cynthia Nixon
Her story: Like Christina Applegate, Cynthia Nixon is also the daughter of a breast cancer survivor. In 2007, she was diagnosed after a routine mammogram. The mass was removed, and she had six weeks of radiation treatments.
Response: At age 42, she became the official ambassador for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.
Nixon also spoke about her diagnosis on “Good Morning America,” and urged women to get regular check-ups, no matter how scary the prospect might seem.
“The only thing to really be afraid of is if you don’t go get your mammograms, because there’s some part of you that doesn’t want to know, and that’s the thing that’s going to trip you up. That’s the thing that could have a really bad endgame.”
Prognosis: Nixon is healthy and hard at work. She had a recurring role on this past season of Showtime’s The Big C (where she did not play a character with cancer.) In 2012, she will star as Professor Vivian Bearing in the Broadway debut of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize winning play Wit.
Maggie Smith
Her story: She might be a professor at Hogwarts, but that doesn’t mean she could wish away her cancer with a magic wand. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 (when she was in her early 70s), Dame Maggie underwent surgery, radiation, and chemo treatments, all while working on the sixth Harry Potter flick to keep her fans happy.
Response: She gave numerous interviews with the UK press, and really highlighted just how hard it is to have the will to fight against this disease and its energy-draining treatments.
Prognosis: Smith just won an Emmy for her work on Downtown Abbey, and is reported to have made a full recovery.
Melissa Etheridge
Her story: After releasing her 2004 album, Lucky, it was ironic when Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Response: Etheridge went on to become one of the most visible public figures working towards breast cancer awareness and charity work. In a brave move, she appeared bald during her performance at the 2005 Grammys. In addition to raising funds for numerous health-related charities, she also appeared in the 2010 docudrama 1 a Minute, which focused on multiple women and their personal struggles with breast cancer.
Prognosis: Her cancer is in remission, and she received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just last month.
Maura Tierney
Her story: The NewsRadio and ER actress was diagnosed with breast cancer the same year her father passed away from a cancer-related illness. After having a lump removed in 2009, she decided to leave the TV show “Parenthood” to focus on her ongoing treatment.
Response: On the most recent season of Rescue Me, she played a character who was battling cancer, bravely relieving her harrowing experience and sharing it with a TV audience of millions.
Prognosis: Tierney’s cancer is in remission and she is back at work.
Nancy Reagan
Her story: Two years before her husband left office, the first lady was diagnosed in 1987. A lump was found in her breast tissue, but she opted to remove the whole breast, rather than have a lumpectomy.
Response: Not only did she raise awareness of breast cancer (leading more American women to get mammograms that year), but she also helped to make mastectomy procedures more accepted. When she had her breast removed, it was a very controversial decision (this being the 1980s.) she defended her choice in a 1987 interview with Barbara Walters.
“I couldn’t possibly lead the kind of life I lead, and keep the schedule that I do, having radiation or chemotherapy. There’d be no way. Maybe if I’d been 20 years old, hadn’t been married, hadn’t had children, I would feel completely differently. But for me it was right.”
Prognosis: Currently 90 years old, she has beaten cancer and outlived her husband.
Sheryl Crow
Her story: Shortly after her 2005 split from Lance Armstrong, Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer and treated by a combination of surgery and radiation. She was discovered to have stage 1 ductal carcinoma in situ cancer during a routine annual exam.
Response: In an extensive interview with CNN, Crow took dozens of questions from real-life cancer sufferers and fans, encouraging them during their darkest hours. In 2007, she hosted the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Revlon Run/Walk For Women, which raised money for cancer research.
Prognosis: Crow’s cancer is in remission, but she has told CNN that she expects the experience will change her music.
Undoubtably, breast cancer has changed the lives of all women who have been touched by it. It is the most second-most common cancer among women in the United States. With so many women taken by this illness every year, it is empowering to see these women use their public identities to inspire others and raise awareness and charitable donations to combat this silent killer — we can't thank them enough for their spirit and their contribution to the fight against breast cancer.