Shannen Doherty pleads to squeeze out another ‘five years’ of life to see cure amid her cancer battle
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shannen Doherty is not giving up on her fight against stage IV breast cancer.
The actress, 52, hopes to live long enough to see a cure for the disease that has spread to her bones and brain.
Shannen Doherty on finding a cure for her cancer
On her 'Let’s Be Clear' podcast, Doherty spoke candidly about her cancer journey with her friend and oncologist, Dr Lawrence Piro.
She said that she always talks about the fact that she just needs to squeeze out another three to five years, and then there’s going to be T-cell therapy or there’s going to be this.
“There’s going to be a lot more options that will give [us] 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,” she said.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Her cancer went into remission two years later, then it returned as stage IV cancer in 2019.
In June 2023, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones and brain. Five months prior, Doherty underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Shannen Doherty compares cancer treatments to a horse race
Dr Piro compared battling the disease to a horse race as patients hope for advances in cancer research. “I always say that it’s important to think of each therapy as a horse, and in a horse race, you want to ride every horse as long as it rides, and then you ride the next horse as much as possible,” he explained.
“You hope you make it a few laps, then there’s altogether another new set of horses to ride, to make the race that much longer," she added.
Doherty agreed with his comparison, saying, “The horse analogy is a really good one. I’m riding those horses so I get to the fresh set of horses, and I’m trying to get the one I’m on right now to last for as long as humanly possible.”
Shannen Doherty opens up about her IVF experience and her marriage
The 'Beverly Hills, 90120' alum also opened up about pursuing in vitro fertilization (IVF) during her 11-year marriage to her third husband Kurt Iswarienko.
“Not only did I want a child for myself, but I wanted it for my husband. I wanted it for our marriage, I wanted him to have that part of himself fulfilled as well,” she shared.
Doherty shares that at the time, she thought IVF contributed to her cancer. "… that all the hormones that you’re pumping your body from IVF are only going to up that chance of it. That was, at least, my thinking.”
Shannen Doherty doesn't want to die
In November 2023, the 'Charmed' alum told People that she was determined to survive. “I don’t want to die,” she said, adding “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 done. My greatest memory is yet to come," she continued.
Doherty also said that she is grateful for her life despite her illness. “I pray. I wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to me without asking for too much,” she explained.
“It connects me to a higher power and spirituality. My faith is my mantra. My life up until this moment was all getting me ready for what God has me here to accomplish," Doherty added.
"I think that’s to reach people who have cancer, that are impacted by it, in such a profound way to help bring awareness, to help raise money," she continued, Us Weekly reports.
