Former DWTS Competitor ‘Petrified’ Over Brain Tumor Surgery

Former “Dancing With the Stars” competitor Shannen Doherty — who is best known for her roles on “Charmed” and “90210” — wrote via Instagram that she was “petrified” to have a tumor removed in January.

She shared a video of herself sitting in a hospital bed, where she asked questions about her upcoming surgery. The actress is shown nodding her head up and down while she listens to the answers. Doherty, 52, wrote that she was trying to be brave, but was afraid.

“Surgery. I had a tumor in my head they wanted to remove and also biopsy,” she wrote in the post on June 14. “I am clearly trying to be brave but I am petrified.”

“The fear was overwhelming to me. Scared of all possible bad outcomes, worried about leaving my mom and how that would impact her,” Doherty continued. “Worried that I would come out of surgery not me anymore. This is what cancer can look like.”

Doherty competed on season 10 of “DWTS” with Mark Ballas as her partner. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, per Us Weekly. After a two-year battle, Doherty announced she was in remission.

But in February 2020, the “Charmed” star went on “Good Morning America” to reveal her cancer had returned, and she was stage 4.

“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that — I’m stage four. So my cancer came back. And that’s why I’m here,” Doherty said on “Good Morning America” at the time, according to Today. “I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”

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Doherty Revealed Her Cancer Had Spread

On June 6, Doherty wrote via Instagram that her cancer had spread to her brain. Doherty posted a video the day before, that showed her getting fitted for a mask to wear while she received radiation on her brain.

“On January 5th, my ct scan showed Mets in my brain,” she said. “January 12, the first round of radiation took place.”

“My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life,” Doherty continued. “I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at cedar sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like.”

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the second most common cancer for women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 264,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer annually, and every year about 42,000 women die from breast cancer, per the CDC. One in four women who are diagnosed with early breast cancer will have metastatic disease, meaning the cancer cells spread from their original site to another part of the body, per Cancer Health’s Basics on Breast Cancer.

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Doherty’s Friends Supported Her Via Social Media

Doherty received support from some of her friends in Hollywood when she revealed the cancer had spread to her brain.

“This is a lot. This is a lot to take on, still again,” Selma Blair wrote under Doherty’s June 6 Instagram post. “And I am wishing for all the wise peace you have learned to find you in the terror moments. To know we are holding you. Love. All love.”

Sarrah Michelle Gellar added, “You are a warrior.”

Director Kevin Smith, who worked Doherty in “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” also shared an uplifting message, saying: “Rooting for you, my irreplaceable friend. You have been such a fearless fighter your whole life, so it’s understandable to be a little scared from time to time. But when those moments pass, let that indomitable Doherty spirit take over anew. I love you so much, my Mallrat.”

Missing from the public comment section was Doherty’s estranged husband, Kurt Iswarienko. The actress filed for divorce in April 2023 after 11 years of marriage.

“Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted. Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option,” Doherty’s rep, Leslie Sloane, told People.

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