Another setback for Shannen Doherty, dealing with cancer since 2015

Actress Shannen Doherty has announced a new setback with her eight-year struggle with cancer. But the 52-year-old is not giving up: “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better,” she told People Magazine. "I’m just not — I’m not done.”

Although she already had a stage four diagnosis back in 2019, she shared with People more bad news: it has spread to her bones. Read on for a timeline of her long, tough, yet inspiring journey with the disease.

Right now, she hopes to get into clinical trials to see if a new treatment can help her. “It’s insane to me [that] we still don’t have a cure,” she told People.

Shannen Doherty is known worldwide. Her breakthrough was in the 1988 dark comedy 'Heathers,' but then she really gained fame as Brenda Walsh in 'Beverly Hills 90210' and Prue Halliwell in 'Charmed'.

Although she developed a reputation for being hard to work with in her youth, she appeared on several shows during the 2000s such as her reality show 'Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty,' the popular British sitcom 'Bo! in the USA' and 'Dancing With the Stars.' In 2008 and again in 2019, she reprised her role as Brenda in the 'Beverly Hills, 90210' spinoff.

It was in 2015 when the actress announced that she had cancer and, since then, she has been undergoing treatment. "Yes, I have breast cancer, and I am currently undergoing treatment," she told People magazine at the time.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

The news came as a shock to friends, peers, and fans of a leading actress in the 1990s and early 2000s. She was still in her early 40s.

Her announcement led to a massive outpouring of support for Shannen Doherty, which only reinforced her willingness and positivity in the face of a highly complicated situation.

Image: Sarah Michelle Gellar, via Instagram

In fact, after a mastectomy and countless chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, Shannen Doherty has become one of the visible faces of the fight against cancer in the United States.

"I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular checkups, to cut thru the fear and face whatever might be in front of you," the actress recommended in October 2021.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

Like many people who struggle with cancer, her battle has been full of ups and downs. And she has not been afraid of showing what it is really like to people around the world.

And it was not easy. Several years before, in October 2017, she had shared a shocking video on Instagram, in which the actress was seen crying while holding several locks of hair.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

These types of videos and messages have helped normalize the disease and remove many taboos regarding cancer, something for which millions of cancer patients around the world have thanked the actress.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

In 2017, she would announce that her breast cancer was in remission. "What does remission mean? I heard that word and have no idea how to react. Good news? YES.
Overwhelming. YES," she commented on Instagram.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

Yet, in 2019, breast cancer returned and, again, Shannen Doherty announced it publicly, this time on 'Good Morning America'.

"I'm stage four – my cancer came back. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways," she commented with tears in her eyes in 2020.

Image: 'Good Morning America'

In 2023, three years later, she faced her most difficult diagnosis: brain metastasis. And again, as usual, she shared it openly with the world.

The image was bleak and shocking. Shannen Doherty lying on a hospital stretcher, getting a scan to start the radiotherapy that she will receive in the brain. The video, shared by the actress herself on her Instagram account, is not recent but was recorded on January 9, 2023. Yet, it took her six months to publish it.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

"On January 5th, my ct scan showed Mets in my brain... January 12, the first round of radiation took place. My fear is obvious," she commented.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

Shannen Doherty will not be able to face her treatment together with her photographer Kurt Iswarienko, her former partner. She filed for divorce from Iswarienko at the beginning of 2023, coinciding with the diagnosis.

Photo: @theshando / Instagram

As reported by media such as TMZ, the actress alleged "irreconcilable differences" to file for divorce. They had been married since 2011 and have no children.

With the added news of the spread to the bones, 2023 was not a great year for her. But she is still willing to work and enjoy her life. A new podcast called 'Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty' is being released Dec 6, where she will discuss everything from her career to her love life to the various stages of her illness.