Shannen Doherty Participates In Star-Studded ‘Stand Up To Cancer,’ Gives Update On Her Fight

Shannen Doherty was one of many celebrities who turned out for the annual Stand Up To Cancer event, but for Shannen, the stand being taken against cancer is much more personal. Doherty, who is currently in the midst of her ongoing battle with breast cancer, hit the red carpet wearing her Stand Up To Cancer T-shirt and a scarf over her head, but Shannen was all smiles as she gave an exclusive interview to E! alongside her oncologist Dr. Lawrence Piro.

Doherty, who just shared a photograph on Instagram of Dr. Piro yesterday, admitted that her battle against cancer is tough but Shannen relies heavily on the expertise of her medical team and the support of friends, family, and fans to get through. More importantly, however, for tonight’s Stand Up To Cancer event, Shannen wanted to make sure it was known she was there for all of the others who are facing the same fight.

“I stand here to support every single person who has cancer, and I stand here to also support the husbands and the family that has to go through it,” Doherty told E!.

Shannen’s positivity appears to be for good reason. According to Doherty’s doctor, Shannen is “doing amazing” and almost done with the chemotherapy she started in July with only a few more weeks of treatment to go. The news was encouraging considering that not too long ago, Shannen was fearing that she wouldn’t survive the cancer battle.

According to the LA Times, Doherty had come forward a year after her breast cancer diagnosis and months after her mastectomy to acknowledge that the cancer had spread beyond her breast to her lymph nodes. As a result, Shannen and her medical team decided to extend the treatment to include radiation and chemotherapy.

Shannen Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2015. Doherty claimed that her former manager failed to pay her medical insurance premiums which resulted in a lapse of her insurance coverage and delayed the diagnosis. As previously reported by Inquisitr, Shannen recently settled a lawsuit against the management team that botched the insurance payments.

Shannen, who began her career as a child actress in television shows such as Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy, reached the height of her acting career with the role of Brenda Walsh in the breakout hit Beverly Hills 90210. The success was both a blessing and a curse for Doherty when people began to associate Shannen a little too much with Brenda and Doherty faced the backlash for the way her character played out. In addition, Doherty started to become a Hollywood “bad girl” who was constantly on the party scene. Eventually, co-stars of 90210 complained that Shannen was constantly late and difficult to work with and Doherty’s character was written out of the show.

Despite the ups and downs of 90210, Doherty once again found success on the television show Charmed. Eventually Shannen would again find herself in a battle with her co-stars and leave that show as well.

Even though Shannen Doherty had struggled in the past with fellow actors, however, the Hollywood community has come out in full force to support her. Doherty has received words of encouragement from former co-stars Jason Priestley and Alyssa Milano, both of whom she had previous contentious relationships with, and even Ashton Kutcher gave Doherty a shout out to keep fighting the good fight.

Shannen says ironically the cancer has given her the opportunity to be her authentic self and has enlightened her.

“Cancer has in a strange way done some amazing things for me. It’s allowed me to be more me, like much more in touch with who I am, and much more vulnerable and the person that I always was, but I think it got hidden behind a lot of other stuff,” Doherty told E!. Perhaps that new authenticity is why even those who had issues with Shannen in the past are encouraging her to beat the cancer and win.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]