Shannen Doherty is holding out hope as she undergoes different treatments for stage IV breast cancer.
During the Monday, January 29, episode of her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast, Doherty, 52, explained how recent results influenced a positive outlook on her health.
“I’m not gonna say what it is, I’m on a new cancer infusion, and after four treatments, we didn’t really see a difference and everybody wanted me to switch, and I just kinda was like, ‘We’re gonna keep going with this and see,'” she told her radiation oncologist Dr. Amin Mirhadi on the podcast. “And yeah, after the sixth or seventh treatment, we really saw it breaking down the blood-brain barrier.”
Doherty called her body’s response to the new treatment a “miracle,” adding, “For me, that happens to be a miracle right now. That I sort of rolled the dice and said, ‘Let’s keep going.'”
After receiving support from her medical team, Doherty chose to continue the infusions.
“That it’s actually breaking down that blood-brain barrier is actually a miracle of that drug, a miracle of maybe God intervening and saying, ‘I’m gonna give her a break,'” she added. “Sometimes you’re looking for miracles in all the wrong places, and they’re right in front of your face.”
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the blood-brain barrier is “a protective network of blood vessels and cells that filters blood flowing to the brain.” This barrier “makes it hard for some substances — such as anticancer drugs — to enter the brain. It prevents many chemotherapy drugs from reaching brain tumor cells in large enough amounts to destroy them.”
Based on Doherty’s insight into her treatment, the new infusion is seemingly getting past the blood-brain barrier and properly entering the brain.
Doherty revealed her cancer diagnosis in 2015, and after two years of chemotherapy, she was in remission. The cancer returned in 2020 as stage IV breast cancer. In November 2023, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum confirmed that the cancer has spread to her bones.
“I don’t want to die,” she told People that same month. “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.”
Despite the diagnosis, Doherty has chosen to keep fighting for her future.
“Every day is a gift, and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there. I think it’s so important. Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don’t know. I can die walking outside of my house and a tree falling on me or a bus hitting me, whatever,” she said on Monday. “Or I can die of cancer. But all I can do is live each day in as much of a positive manner with hope as I can and embrace it and feel like, ‘Wow, I get to wake up again today, what can I do?’”
She concluded: “I believe that positivity that you bring into your life, I think it helps with your whole body. I think that it helps you fight the cancer. Mind over matter a little bit.”
