Cancer is no joke, and we’re often reminded of its impact when a celebrity undergoes their own battle with the disease. Fortunately, many of them have been able to beat it.
Sharon Osbourne was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002 and underwent chemotherapy to mediate the issue. Though she successfully recovered, the Osbournes alum chose to have a double mastectomy in 2012 to lower her chance of getting cancer again.
“I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with that shadow hanging over me,” she told Hello! magazine at the time, per Rolling Stone. “It’s not ‘pity me,’ it’s a decision I made that got rid of this weight that I was carrying around.”
Ewan McGregor, for his part, revealed in 2008 that sun damage resulted in a cancerous mole on his face that he later had removed. “I had a little skin cancer under my eye,” he told BBC at the time. “I just went to have them checked … I went to see a specialist who thought they were better to be removed and indeed he was correct.”
The Doctor Sleep actor added, “It’s all good now, but it was something that was best to be looked at and kept in check.”
Meanwhile, Edie Falco discovered she had stage I breast cancer in 2003 while working on The Sopranos. She went into remission the following year.
Years after beating the disease, Falco told Health that she initially didn’t want to disclose her diagnosis — not even to her Sopranos colleagues. “It was very important for me to keep my diagnosis under the radar, even from the cast and crew of The Sopranos, because well-meaning people would have driven me crazy asking, ‘How are you feeling?’” she told the publication in 2011. “I would have wanted to say, ‘I’m scared, I don’t feel so good, and my hair is falling out.’”
The Nurse Jackie alum added, “My good friend, Ilene Landress, the show’s producer, kept things quiet by working my schedule around my treatments. With the cancer a secret, I bucked up, put on my Carmela fingernails, and was ready to work.”
Nearly 10 years after Stanley Tucci lost his first wife, Kate Spath-Tucci, after a breast cancer battle, he was diagnosed with a large tumor on his tongue. The Hunger Games actor opened up about his secret cancer battle three years later during an interview with Vera magazine.
“The kids were great, but it was hard for them,” he told the magazine in September 2021 of his difficult treatment. “I had a feeding tube for six months. I could barely make it to the twins’ high school graduation.”
Scroll down to read about some of the famous faces who have overcome their struggles with cancer.
Cancer is no joke, and we’re often reminded of its impact when a celebrity undergoes their own battle with the disease. Fortunately, many of them have been able to beat it.
Sharon Osbourne was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002 and underwent chemotherapy to mediate the issue. Though she successfully recovered, the Osbournes alum chose to have a double mastectomy in 2012 to lower her chance of getting cancer again.
“I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with that shadow hanging over me,” she told Hello! magazine at the time, per Rolling Stone. “It’s not ‘pity me,’ it’s a decision I made that got rid of this weight that I was carrying around.”
Ewan McGregor, for his part, revealed in 2008 that sun damage resulted in a cancerous mole on his face that he later had removed. “I had a little skin cancer under my eye,” he told BBC at the time. “I just went to have them checked … I went to see a specialist who thought they were better to be removed and indeed he was correct.”
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The Doctor Sleep actor added, “It’s all good now, but it was something that was best to be looked at and kept in check.”
Meanwhile, Edie Falco discovered she had stage I breast cancer in 2003 while working on The Sopranos. She went into remission the following year.
Years after beating the disease, Falco told Health that she initially didn’t want to disclose her diagnosis — not even to her Sopranos colleagues. “It was very important for me to keep my diagnosis under the radar, even from the cast and crew of The Sopranos, because well-meaning people would have driven me crazy asking, ‘How are you feeling?’” she told the publication in 2011. “I would have wanted to say, ‘I’m scared, I don’t feel so good, and my hair is falling out.’”
The Nurse Jackie alum added, “My good friend, Ilene Landress, the show’s producer, kept things quiet by working my schedule around my treatments. With the cancer a secret, I bucked up, put on my Carmela fingernails, and was ready to work.”
Nearly 10 years after Stanley Tucci lost his first wife, Kate Spath-Tucci, after a breast cancer battle, he was diagnosed with a large tumor on his tongue. The Hunger Games actor opened up about his secret cancer battle three years later during an interview with Vera magazine.
“The kids were great, but it was hard for them,” he told the magazine in September 2021 of his difficult treatment. “I had a feeding tube for six months. I could barely make it to the twins’ high school graduation.”
Scroll down to read about some of the famous faces who have overcome their struggles with cancer.
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Clea Shearer
The Get Organized With the Home Edit star announced in March 2022 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I’m done! Today marks my journey from cancer patient, to cancer SURVIVOR. I haven’t stopped crying since I was able to ring the bell,” Shearer wrote via Instagram the following November. “But here I sit, on Nov 22nd, 9 months after my diagnosis — and I’m cancer free.”
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Terry Bradshaw
The football legend revealed during a pregame broadcast in October 2022 that he was diagnosed with bladder cancer the previous November. He recovered after surgery and treatments — but was diagnosed with skin cancer in March 2022.
“Folks, I may not look like my old self, but I feel like my old self. I’m cancer free, I’m feeling great, and over time I’m going to be back to where I normally am. So I appreciate your prayers and your concern,” he said on the air.
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Kathy Griffin
The comedian first revealed her stage I lung cancer diagnosis in August 2021, explaining at the time that although she had “never smoked,” doctors found a tumor that had gone unnoticed for 10 years.
Three months later, Griffin shared that she was cancer-free after undergoing surgery to remove half of her left lung. While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November 2021, the Illinois native joked that her doctor tried to keep things light ahead of her operation by comparing the removal of her lung to a balloon, saying it “kind of looks like a used condom” after it’s poked.
The My Life on the D List alum noted at the time that although she was on the mend, her vocal cords were affected by the procedure. “It will heal, but I’m sort of enjoying it,” she said of her higher-pitched voice. “I’m a good two octaves higher, I think. It’s higher than Mariah Carey, I know that.
In February 2022, she shared another happy update. “6 month lung cancer scan is CLEAN!!! No more #cancer,” she shared via Twitter in February 2022 alongside a video of her swimming naked. “And yes, i’m skinny dipping in the pool while shaking my boobs and butt. SO WHAT?”
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Mark Hoppus
The Blink-182 frontman first opened up about his lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy in June 2021. Months later, he shared that he was in remission.
“Just saw my oncologists and I’m cancer free,” Hoppus shared via Instagram that September. “Thank you God and universe and family and friends and everyone who sent support and kindness and love.”
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Stanley Tucci
The Lovely Bones star recalled the moment his doctors found a tumor on his tongue that was “too big to operate” on.
“[Cancer] makes you more afraid and less afraid at the same time,” Tucci told Vera magazine in September 2021. “I feel much older than I did before I was sick. But you still want to get ahead and get things done.”
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Jeff Bridges
Nearly one year after the Stick It actor announced his lymphoma diagnosis, he revealed that it was in remission, and he was excited to go back to work.
“Lots has gone down since my last installment,” Bridges explained via a handwritten note on his website in September 2021. “My cancer is in remission — the 9″ x 12″ mass has shrunk down to the size of a marble.”
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The retired basketball player revealed in a December 2020 WebMD essay that he had privately battled prostate cancer. “I’ve been fortunate because my celebrity has brought me enough financial security to receive excellent medical attention. No one wants an NBA legend dying on their watch. Imagine the Yelp reviews,” he joked.
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Ashley Park
The Emily in Paris actress was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just 15 years old, but she underwent chemotherapy to get better. Speaking on the experience with Cosmopolitan in October 2020, she talked about not letting the potential long-term side-effects of chemotherapy bother her. “I didn’t want to know that I might be infertile or that my heart might stop working or any of that stuff because once you say it, you’re thinking about it,” she said. “Even though my body beat the disease, if I let it change anything, it’s won.”
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The Veep alum announced her breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, and she successfully beat the illness nearly one year later. “I was to-my-bones terrified [of having cancer],” she told The New Yorker in 2018. “But I didn’t let myself — except for a couple of moments — go to a really dark place. I didn’t allow it.”
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Hugh Jackman
The Logan actor got treated for basal cell carcinoma in 2013 and 2015. After his second brush with the disease, he took to Twitter and Instagram to caution his followers about doing preventive care to avoid getting skin cancer. “Another basal cell carcinoma,” he wrote at the time. “Thanks to frequent checks & amazing doctors, all’s well. Looks worse w the dressing on then off! WEAR SUNSCREEN.”
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Wanda Sykes
The comedian revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2011 that she underwent a double mastectomy after finding out she was in the early stages of breast cancer. “I have a lot of breast cancer history on my mother’s side of the family. I had both breasts removed,” she said. “Now, I have zero chance of having breast cancer.”
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Anderson Cooper
In March 2008, the CNN anchor revealed on the network’s website that he had skin cancer removed from beneath his left eye. “I hadn’t planned on mentioning this, but I still have stitches and you’ll no doubt notice,” he wrote.
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Fran Drescher
The Nanny alum learned that she had uterine cancer in 2000. To resolve the issue, she underwent surgery and did radiation. Two years later, Drescher documented her experience with the disease in a book titled Cancer Schmancer.
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Len Goodman
The Dancing With the Stars judge confirmed through the Melanoma Fund in August 2020 that he underwent skin cancer removal from his face. “Len Goodman has asked us to keep ‘spreading the word’ re. sun protection for golf,” the nonprofit wrote via Facebook. “The ex-BBC Strictly Come Dancing judge was playing a few rounds with our ambassador Paul Way at The Grove – a Sun Protection Accredited club, and revealed he has just had skin cancer removed. He wanted us to use this image to inspire others to take the issue seriously!”
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Julie Walters
The Harry Potter star announced in February 2020 that she beat stage III bowel cancer. She told the BBC that she “couldn’t believe” the diagnosis in 2018, but chemotherapy turned out to be “fine.”
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The Supreme Court Justice announced that she was “cancer-free” in January 2020 after receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer that summer. Ginsburg had been treated for cancer five times throughout her life, including colon cancer in 1999, surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer in 2009 and surgery to remove cancer in her lung in 2018.
Ginsberg died from pancreatic cancer in September 2020.
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Marcia Cross
The Desperate Housewives alum revealed to her Instagram followers on Sept. 15, 2018, that she had battled cancer and was in the process of growing back her hair. Three days later, she explained that she had beat anal cancer and was happy to finally let the world know about her journey. “After posting a picture of myself here and uttering the words #cancer and #hairloss, I felt liberated, deliriously free and completely me,” she wrote. “How or why this simple act gave me such a powerful lift I did not question, but I thanked God or whatever gave me the internal push to move forward and expose myself.”
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Erin Andrews
In September 2016, the veteran sportscaster was diagnosed with cervical cancer at her annual Ob-Gyn checkup. After undergoing two surgeries that October and November — without missing work or sharing her struggles with coworkers — she received the news that all of the cancerous cells had been cleared. Andrews spoke out about the fact that she was a survivor in January 2017 and has continued to advocate for cervical cancer screenings.
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Christina Applegate
After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, Applegate underwent a double mastectomy. The following year, the cancer-free actress launched the Right Action foundation, which provides financial aid to women who want MRIs. “That’s what saved my life, and I want to give back,” she told Us.
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Sharon Osbourne
MTV continued to film Osbourne after she was diagnosed with colon cancer (which later spread to her lymph nodes) in 2002. Against a 33% survival prognosis, she beat the disease. Two years later, the talk show host founded the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai Hospital in L.A.
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Ewan McGregor
The Angels & Demons star had a cancerous mole below his right eye removed in 2008. “It was great fun having skin cancer,” the now cancer-free actor joked at the time. “I really enjoyed it.”
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Maura Tierney
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, Tierney was forced to pull out of a TV show shortly before filming began. But the actress (now in remission) is grateful doctors detected the disease early. “From the beginning my doctor told me, ‘You’re going to be okay,’ and I chose to believe him,” she said.
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Kylie Minogue
The Australian singer learned she had breast cancer in 2005 and immediately began intense chemotherapy cycles. “Some days I don’t think about it at all, and other days I’m reminded of physically what I’ve been through,” Minogue (who is now cancer-free) tells Us.
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Michael C. Hall
The former Dexter star fully recovered from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in April 2010 after undergoing treatment to resolve it earlier that year.
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Sofia Vergara
The Modern Family star was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002. “When you are a cancer survivor, your priorities in life change,” the actress (who is now in remission) told Extra. Her advice for those currently battling the disease? “Live day to day and try not think too much about it.”
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Robert De Niro
The Little Fockers actor was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003, the same disease that took his father’s life a decade earlier. One year later, De Niro announced he was in remission.
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Edie Falco
In 2003, a year after finding a lump in her breast — and undergoing a mammogram that showed nothing — Falco learned she had the disease. Currently in remission, the Nurse Jackie star told Parade her future involves “taking a trip to Sloan-Kettering hospital every six months to make sure I’m okay.”
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Lance Armstrong
The cyclist was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer in 1996, which later spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He soon underwent chemotherapy and had an orchiectomy to remove his diseased testicle, which rendered him cancer-free. He then launched the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997.
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Cynthia Nixon
The Sex and the City actress was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram in 2006, though she didn’t announce the news until two years later on Good Morning America. With her cancer now in remission, Nixon serves as an ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
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Barry Watson
The actor took a short hiatus from 7th Heaven in 2002 when he discovered a lump on his neck. Soon after, he learned he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “I said, ‘I’m going to be fine. I know I am,'” he later recalled. In April 2003, Watson proudly announced he was in remission.
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Sheryl Crow
The singer underwent a lumpectomy and seven weeks of radiation before being declared cancer-free in 2006. Two years later, she unveiled the Sheryl Crow Imaging Center in L.A., which features state-of-the-art digital screening and diagnostic technologies for the early detection of breast cancer.
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Regis Philbin
The daytime host has endured two skin cancer scares. After having a lump removed from his hand via Mohs surgery, he had a more serious lump removed from his face in 1993.
Philbin died in July 2020 from a heart attack due to coronary artery disease.
