Christina Applegate underwent a double mastectomy.
Credit: Getty Images
Angelina Jolie underwent preventive surgery to avoid developing breast cancer and decided to go public with her decision. But she didn’t have to fight cancer while in the public eye, unlike these celebrities. Most of them later decided to use their fame to raise awareness.
Anastasia
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time earlier this year and am currently in the final stages of recovery after undergoing a double mastectomy,” the singer announced in a statement last year. Anastasia was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, at the age of 35. “Early detection has saved my life twice,” she explained. “I will continue to battle and lend my voice in any way I can.”
Cynthia Nixon
The “Sex and the City” star, who played Miranda Hobbes, discovered she had a tumor in her right breast during a routine mammogram. She first decided to keep the news private but feared that the paparazzi might spot her at the hospital. “I felt scared,” she said on “Good Morning America” in 2008, 18 months after she was diagnosed and treated with a lumpectomy and radiation. After she recovered, she became an official ambassador for a breast cancer organization.
Kylie Minogue
In 2008, speaking to Ellen DeGeneres, the Australian singer revealed that before she started a treatment to cure her breast cancer (a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation), she was first given a misdiagnosis. “Just because someone is in a white coat using big medical instruments, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right,” she told the talk show host. She later added that the mistake didn’t negatively impact her view of doctors and nurses, saying, “I have great respect for the medical profession.”
Christina Applegate
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 at the age of 36, Christina Applegate first got a lumpectomy. But when she learned she had the same mutation (BRCA-1) as Angelina Jolie, and after witnessing her mother’s repeated breast cancer diagnoses, she underwent a double mastectomy. Her personal experience led her to launch her own charity, Right Action for Women, which provides aid to individuals who are at an increased risk of breast cancer but can’t afford to get mammograms.
Sheryl Crow
Although the American singer had no family history of breast cancer and had dedicated herself to fitness and a healthy lifestyle, that didn’t prevent her from being diagnosed in 2006 at age 44.“I am a walking advertisement for early detection,” she observed later that year, after suspicious calcifications in both of her breasts were detected on a routine mammogram. Instead of going on a scheduled tour, Crow had surgery, followed by radiation, and got some extra help from acupuncture and herbal teas.
Giuliana Rancic
In 2011, before receiving IVF treatment for infertility, the E! News host got a mammogram showing she had early stage breast cancer. She decided to get a double mastectomy, followed by reconstructive surgery. In 2013, she launched the Fab-U-Wish initiative with the Pink Agenda organization, the goal of which is to help women undergoing treatment for breast cancer feel “fabulous” by getting what she calls “the full Hollywood treatment,”with fashion and beauty makeovers.
