Several celebrities have publicly shared their experiences of receiving breast cancer diagnoses to raise awareness about early detection and promote cancer research.
Breast cancer is the most
The earlier doctors can detect breast cancer, the more treatment options may be available. That’s partly why the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently updated its guidance to advise getting a mammogram every other year starting at 40 years old.
Talk with a healthcare professional to better understand your individual risk and how often to consider getting a screening. Some people may benefit from starting mammograms when they’re younger or getting them more frequently.
Here’s a look at 14 celebrities who’ve opened up about their breast cancer diagnoses to raise awareness about the importance of regular mammograms and research needs.
Singer and actress Mary J. Blige has been vocal about her experience with breast cancer in recent years, highlighting the importance of regular mammograms and calling attention to the lack of breast cancer research involving Black women.
In 2021, Blige teamed up with the Black Women’s Health Imperative and other experts to discuss factors that contribute to the
Their discussion highlighted several key challenges, including:
- medical distrust after negative experiences with doctors
- a lack of easy access to quality care
- conflictive guidelines around mammograms, which form from research that often excludes Black women
Blige also candidly shared her own experience of learning about the importance of mammograms. “I didn’t know about breast cancer or mammograms until I was 40,” she shared.
By the time she learned about the importance of mammograms, she was already at the age when the U.S. Preventive Task Force recommends getting a mammogram every 2 years.
Actress Christina Applegate received her diagnosis in 2008 at 36 years old. Her detection came from an MRI after her doctor determined that a mammogram wasn’t sufficient due to her breast density. Shortly after, genetic testing showed she carried the BRCA1 gene,
That early detection, coupled with her increased risk, spurred her to undergo a double mastectomy before the cancer could spread to other areas of her body.
Since her surgery, Applegate has become an advocate for access to MRIs and genetic testing as preventive measures.
In 2024, she reflected on her regret about not being more open about the surgery’s effect on her body image at the time.
“I was the good girl talking about ‘Oh, I love my new boobs’ that are all scarred and f—ed up,” she reflected on an episode of the “Dax Shepard Armchair Expert” podcast. In reality, Applegate added, “I was taking off my bra and crying every night. And I wish that I had said that.”
In 2024, Olivia Munn shared that she’d received a breast cancer diagnosis the previous year.
Munn’s diagnosis followed a typical mammogram. She credits her doctor with referring her for an MRI based on several risk factors, including a family history of breast cancer and giving birth after 30 years old. That MRI led to an ultrasound and biopsy, which confirmed her diagnosis.
Within a month of receiving her diagnosis, Munn underwent a bilateral mastectomy. She’s since become vocal about encouraging others to talk with their doctors about their personal breast cancer risk to determine whether to consider additional screening.
Katie Couric revealed her diagnosis at 65 years old in a 2022 personal essay.
Couric, whose first husband passed away at 42 years old due to colon cancer, uses her platform to advocate for early detection. “I’m trying to spread the word on social media … every time I get a chance to talk about it, I try to do that,” she said in 2023, adding that she hopes to be a “walking advertisement for people to get screened.”
“Get your mammograms and don’t delay,” says “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon.
Nixon received her diagnosis in 2002 and privately underwent a lumpectomy and radiation before publicly announcing her diagnosis and becoming an ambassador for the breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen in 2008. Her mother is also a breast cancer survivor.
Australian pop star Kylie Minogue received her diagnosis of early stage breast cancer in 2005 at 39 years old, just months after her doctor initially cleared her — or gave her a misdiagnosis — she says.
“So my message to all of you and everyone at home is because someone is in a white coat and using big medical instruments doesn’t necessarily mean they are right,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in 2008, advising women to trust their intuitions.
Four days after her diagnosis, Minogue had surgery and then began chemotherapy.
While she’s been in remission since 2006, Minogue shared that she still feels the effect of her diagnosis almost 20 years later. “It’s trauma, and any trauma resides within you,” she said in 2023.
In September 2017, U.S. actress and multiple Emmy Awards winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 56 years old, announced her diagnosis on Twitter:
“1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I’m the one,” she wrote. Louis-Dreyfus is now in remission following a double mastectomy and six rounds of chemotherapy.
She recently spoke about how her diagnosis shaped her perspective. “I’m just so happy to be here, you know. I think I’m enjoying things more,” she told the 2023 New Yorker festival audience.
Grammy Award-winning U.S. musician Sheryl Crow received her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006. Now in remission, she’s been vocal about the importance of early detection.
In “Sheryl,” a documentary about her life, Crow shared that she almost skipped the mammogram that led to her diagnosis.
“It’s my hope that women who watch “Sheryl”will be inspired to advocate for themselves in all aspects of their lives, especially when it comes to preventive health screenings,” she wrote in a 2022 op-ed.
After hearing for years that the lumps in her breasts were nothing to worry about, doctors finally removed U.S. singer Carly Simon’s lumps. They turned out to be cancerous, so she underwent chemotherapy and later had reconstructive surgery.
“It really changes an awful lot of things,” she told an interviewer in 2005. “It allows you to grow a great deal because it makes you accept what’s new and different and maybe a little misshapen or not having testosterone and feeling hot flushes.”
This famous women’s rights activist received her diagnosis of breast cancer in 1986, after which she had a lumpectomy.
She went on to advocate for increased awareness about regular breast cancer screening.
Steinem continues to write, lecture, and speak out against women’s injustices worldwide. In 2016, Random House published her memoir, “My Life on the Road.”
After recovering from breast cancer with a partial mastectomy and chemotherapy in 2007, news anchor Robin Roberts developed myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare blood disease brought on by cancer treatment.
She’s since candidly shared her experience navigating cancer, saying in 2012:
“I’m not one of those people who say, ‘Cancer is one of the best doggone things that ever happened to me.’ I was appreciating life. But [the disease] has made me far more patient than I’ve ever been in my life. And I’m more in the moment with people.”
Kathy Bates received her diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer in 2012. She underwent a double mastectomy, from which she also developed lymphedema, a swelling in the body’s extremities. Although there’s no cure for lymphedema, physical therapy and weight loss have helped her manage the condition.
Bates is now the national spokeswoman for the Lymphatic Education and Research Network, which works to increase awareness about lymphedema.
Actress and comedian Wanda Sykes received her diagnosis of early stage breast cancer in her left breast in 2011. She opted for a double mastectomy.
While she’s been open about her experience, she initially hesitated. “I was like, I don’t know, should I talk about it or what? How many things could I have? I’m Black, then lesbian. I can’t be the poster child for everything,” she told Ellen Degeneres in 2011.
Comedian Tig Notaro became famous for performing a comedy set in 2012 in which she revealed her breast cancer diagnosis to the audience the same day she received it.
“Is everybody having a good time?” she said right after she got up on stage. “I have cancer.”
In 2015, film distributors released a documentary called “Tig.” The film documents Notaro’s experience of receiving her diagnosis and choosing to share her story publicly.
