Cancer doesn’t discriminate. While risks for developing certain cancers go up or down based on lifestyle choices, diet, and other factors, many types of cancers strike regardless of other health, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors. Here are eight celebrities who have taken their own battles with cancer public to raise awareness:
Christina Applegate: Breast Cancer
As a teenager, she kept us in stitches with her antics as the dim-witted Kelly Bundy on Married With Children. As an adult, she brought her talent to the big screen and Broadway, starring in a number of hit roles before taking on the lead in the show Samantha Who?, which garnered her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. In 2008, the laughter was silenced, when the actress, then 36, was given a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Applegate struggled with how to cope with her diagnosis at first, having told People, “It’s hard to live quietly. I went through five weeks of work without telling anyone that this was going on in my life.” Ultimately, Applegate went public with her battle to raise awareness about breast cancer risks for young women who may think that they’re too young to be stricken. Because her own mother is a breast cancer survivor, Applegate’s risk for developing the condition is elevated. This risk made her seek annual mammograms beginning at age 30, switching to an MRI scan that ultimately caught her cancer at an early stage, which resulted in a less invasive treatment. Ultimately, Applegate opted for a double mastectomy, when a test for the BRCA gene, also called the breast cancer gene, came back positive.
Tom Green: Testicular Cancer
Tom Green is perhaps best known for his role as the host of MTV’s The Tom Green Show, and former husband to actress Drew Barrymore. In 2000, Green was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The actor initially kept his struggle private, undergoing a testicular removal and keeping his diagnosis secret from those around him. However, when doctors recommended a lymph node removal surgery - to determine whether or not his cancer had spread - Green decided to go public with his story, filming The Tom Green Cancer Special. This gave audiences an opportunity to follow along with his procedure. The special aired on MTV in May, 2000, gaining critical acclaim.