10 Celebrities Who Battled Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and contrary to popular conception, both women and men can be at risk of being diagnosed with the disease.

Wanda Sykes, Peter Criss, Christina Applegate and plenty other celebrities have opened up about living with breast cancer, and many of whom have survived the experience and gone on to use their influence to bring awareness to the matter.

Scroll down to read more about how these stars and others experienced breast cancer below.

1. Peter Criss

The KISS drummer discovered he had breast cancer in 2008. Criss learned of his disease after finding a lump in his left breast following a workout. Thankfully, he was able to be treated with a successful lumpectomy.

2. Wanda Sykes

In 2011, the standup comedian opted for elective surgery to reduce the size of her breasts. Samples of her breast tissue later revealed she had DCIS — meaning the cancer was in her milk ducts — which prompted her to have a bilateral mastectomy to have both of her breasts removed.

3. Mathew Knowles

In 2019, the talent manager and father of Beyonce revealed his battle with stage IA breast cancer while speaking with Good Morning America. In the interview, Knowles said he learned of his condition after noticing reoccurring bloodstains on his shirts, which prompted him to get genetic testing that would subsequently call for a surgery in July. Since then, Knowles has said he's "doing all the steps for recovery."

4. Sheryl Crow

The musician discovered she had dense breast tissue, which made it difficult to conduct self-exams. Six months after undergoing a mammogram in 2006, Crow's breast tissue samples revealed she had cancer in her milk ducts that required a successful lumpectomy and seven weeks of radiation therapy.

5. Christina Applegate

The actress, whose mother was a breast cancer survivor, learned of her diagnosis following an MRI that showed traces of the disease in her left breast. Despite undergoing a lumpectomy and radiation, Applegate tested positive again, which ultimately led her to have a double mastectomy.

6. Robin Roberts

The Good Morning America co-anchor found a lump in her breast after conducting a self-exam in 2007. Following an ultrasound and a biopsy, it was determined that Roberts had “triple-negative cancer,” which required a lumpectomy, chemo, and radiation therapy.

7. Melissa Etheridge

The rocker discovered a large lump in her breast at aged 43 and admits she denied its presence despite knowing the cancer gene ran in her family. Doctors later informed her she had stage III breast cancer, which, with medical help, was mitigated to stage II, meaning the cancer hadn’t spread far from the breast. She subsequently underwent a successful surgery and chemotherapy.

8. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The day after accepting her best actress Emmy win in September 2017, the Veep star took to Twitter to announce her fight with breast cancer. “One in 8 women get breast cancer,” she wrote at the time. “Today, I’m the one.” In October 2018, she announced she was cancer-free.

9. Sandra Lee

The Food Network star was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after learning she had DCIS. The tumors were spread in three different places of her breast, which prompted her to opt for a double mastectomy. She's been cancer-free since mid-2016.

10. Shannen Doherty

The Beverly Hills, 90210 star revealed she neglected to get a strange mass in her breast looked at by doctors due to her lack of health insurance at the time. In 2015, the lump was found to be cancerous and required the actress to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemo. In April 2017, Doherty revealed her cancer was in remission.

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