Shannen Doherty is maintaining a positive attitude as she continues her fight against stage IV breast cancer.
“I always talk about the fact that we just need 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,” Doherty, 52, said during the Monday, January 1, episode of her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast. “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.”
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.
On her podcast, the Beverly Hills, 90120 alum discussed cancer treatments with oncologist Dr. Lawrence Piro. He 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.”
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.”
In November 2023, the Charmed alum told People that she is determined to survive.
“I don’t want to die,” she said. “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.”
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. 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.”
