Shannen Doherty Reveals Her Cancer Has Returned and Is Now Stage 4

Charmed and Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty fought and beat breast cancer a few years back, but she’s now in the midst of battling the disease once again. Doherty appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday and revealed that she has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The actress explained that she has been living privately with the diagnosis for the past year or so.

“I don’t think that I’ve processed it,” Doherty said on Good Morning America. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ and then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”

Doherty went on to explain exactly why she chose to come forward with the news of her second cancer battle. Instead of the news being broken in a taploid or a court document, she wanted to get ahead of things and let people know on her terms. This way, she can control how the news gets to fans and assure the narrative isn’t twisted in any way.

“I’d rather people hear it from me,” she continued. “I don’t want it to be twisted. I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic and I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me.”

Doherty also wants people to know that being diagnosed with cancer doesn’t mean that their lives are over. If she can be an example of someone who continues to work and thrive after a diagnosis, she hopes others can follow her lead.

“I thought, people can look at that and say, ‘Oh my God, yeah. She can work and other people with stage 4 can work, too.’ Our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis.”