Shannen Doherty shares ‘miracle’ update in cancer battle

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Shannen Doherty has provided fans with a positive update in her ongoing battle with Stage 4 breast cancer.

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During a recent segment on her Let’s Be Clear iHeart podcast, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum discussed a new cancer infusion treatment that has given her hope in her fight against the disease, which has spread to her brain and bones.

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“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,’” Doherty, 52, told oncologist Dr. Amin Mirhadi on the podcast. “After the sixth or seventh treatment, we really saw it breaking down the blood-brain barrier.”

The former Charmed star, who is documenting her experience on her own called the procedure a “miracle.”

“Do I call that a miracle? Yeah. For me, that happens to be a miracle right now, that I sort of rolled the dice and said, ‘Let’s keep going.’”

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According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the blood-brain barrier lines the blood vessels in the brain, but the protective tissue “makes it hard for some substances (such as anti-cancer drugs) to enter the brain.”

Thanks to the treatment, her new infusions appear to be able to break through the blood-brain barrier to fight the tumour in the actress’ brain.

“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,’” Doherty continued. “Sometimes you’re looking for miracles in all the wrong places, and they’re right in front of your face.”

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, but she announced that she had gone into remission two years later. In 2020, Doherty broke the news the cancer had returned and was Stage 4.

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Last summer, Doherty revealed that the cancer had also spread to her brain as she tearfully posted a video of herself going through “the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation.”

In November, the Mallrats star was devastated when she learned the cancer had spread yet again 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 her grim diagnosis, Doherty told Mirhadi that her positive outlook as she prioritizes her mental and physical health is helping her in her fight.

“Every day is a gift, and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there,” she said. “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. Or I can die of cancer. But all I can do is live each day in as much as 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?’”

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But death isn’t far from Doherty’s thoughts. Earlier this month, she said she has given plenty of thought to her funeral and burial arrangements.

“This is such a morbid conversation, but it’s also so fun,” she said on an episode of her podcast. “I want (my remains) to be mixed with my dog and I want it to be mixed with my dad.”

She also knows who she wants to attend her funeral, saying it will be a “party” and a “celebration.”

“There’s a lot of people that I think would show up that I don’t want there,” she said. “I don’t want them there because their reasons for showing up aren’t necessarily the best reasons, like, they don’t really like me and, you know, they have their reasons and good for them, but they don’t actually really like me enough to show up to my funeral … But they will, because it’s the politically correct thing to do and they don’t want to look bad, so I kinda want to take the pressure off them and I want my funeral to be like a love fest.”

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X: @markhdaniell

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