Actress Shannen Doherty passed away today, after a long battle with cancer, she was just 53 years old. She made her last public appearance in January of this year, one month after it was clear that she had just months to live.
Here are some images from that event – she was so brave.
She was known for her many roles in television and film, including as Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985); Kris Witherspoon in Our House (1986–1988); Heather Duke in Heathers (1989); Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994), 90210 (2008–2009) and BH90210 (2019); Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2001); and Dobbs in Fortress (2021).
In March 2015, Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes. In February 2016, Doherty revealed that she was receiving anti-estrogen treatment to shrink the tumor and enable treatment by lumpectomy rather than mastectomy. The presence of multiple tumors meant that a lumpectomy was not possible, and a unilateral mastectomy was performed in May 2016.
Surgery revealed that some of the cancer cells may have spread beyond the lymph nodes.Because the cancer was more advanced than previously thought, Doherty underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy following surgery. On April 29, 2017, Doherty announced that her cancer was in remission.
On February 4, 2020, Doherty announced her cancer had returned a year prior, and that she was now stage four. In October 2021, Doherty provided an update on her cancer treatment during an interview with Juju Chang of ABC News. In June 2023, she announced that the cancer had spread to her brain and was terminal.
In November 2023, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones. In January 2024, Doherty shared that she was undergoing a new cancer treatment and that it was successfully breaking through the blood-brain barrier, calling it a “miracle”
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