Shannen Doherty Puts On A Smile Amid Brain Cancer Battle: ‘I’m Petrified!’

Shannon Doherty isn’t letting her ongoing cancer battle bring her down. 

A week after sharing her struggles with cancer on social media, Doherty put on a smile as she went out to eat with her mother, Rosa, yesterday in Malibu this week. 

The 90210 actress was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015 and has gone through eight rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as a mastectomy. She entered remission in 2017 but revealed in 2020 that her cancer had advanced to stage 4 breast cancer. Recently, she revealed that her cancer has spread to her brain, which led to the requirement for brain surgery to remove the tumor. 

Earlier this month, Doherty began a series of videos showing her time in the hospital, as she went through a CT scan, got fitted for a mask to wear during radiation treatment and prepared for the surgery. 

In the captions, she wrote dates from January 9 to January 16, suggesting the times the videos were taken. 

In her most recent post, the 52-year-old got candid with her emotions and wrote, “I am clearly trying to be brave but I am petrified.” 

She also shared that she was overwhelmed with fear, and “scared of all possible bad outcomes, worried about leaving [her] mom and how that would impact her” and if she “would come out of surgery not [her] anymore.” 

“This is what cancer can look like,” Doherty added. 

The Charmed actress received many words of comfort and support from her fans, praising her for her transparency and honesty. 

“There will be people seeing this who are going through their own journey or know somebody who is. Those people will feel less alone, because of you. It’s those, “scared” moments that make us what we are. Human,” one follower wrote. 

“Thanks for being transparent. I’m your age with lung cancer (non-smoker) Helps to see others have the same struggles,” another commented. 

Aside from her cancer struggles, Doherty has also had to face other battles. In 2015, she sued her former management company for failing to update her health insurance and claimed that because of it, cancer was given time to spread throughout her body. 

Three years later, she sued State Farm Insurance for forcing her to pay out of pocket for home repairs, following the 2018 Woolsey fire in California. She was awarded $6.3 million in 2021. 

In April this year, she filed for divorce from her husband of 11 years, photographer Kurt Iswarienko.