13 stars that received a cancer diagnosis before they were 40 years old

Here is what they learned from their heartbreaking experiences.


Hollywood celebrities can lead a charmed life, but even glory and fortune cannot guarantee good health. In fact, cancer has touched the life of certain celebrities at a surprisingly young age, sometimes arriving at the top of their career. These stars have opened to share their rare and unique storiesbe diagnosed with cancer Before 40 years, and to transmit hard -won lessons, they learned from their fear shocking health. Read more on what 13 celebrities fought for cancer before they are 40 years old and what they want people to know.

Read this then:The "crazy" way that Mark Ruffalo discovered that he had a brain tumor.

1
Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate
Shutterstock / Kathy Hutchins

Dead for me starChristina Applegate was in the eye of the publicSince she was a teenager, it is therefore a surprise for fans when she revealed thatShe was fighting against breast cancer at the age of 36.

After her diagnosis, the star underwent genetic tests, which revealed that she was positive for a mutation of the BRCA gene. "If you are positive BRCA, it's very possibledevelop cancer of your life, "she explainedTodayIn 2017. Armed with this knowledge, Applegate decided to undergo a double mastectomy and then had its ovaries and its fallopian tubes withdraw. "This is how I took control of everything. It is a relief," she said. "This is another thing in the table. Now, let's hope I will not be struck by a bus," she joked.

2
Michael C. Hall

Michael C. Hall
Arturo Holmes / Wireimage via Getty Images

Michael C. Hall, star of criminal dramaDexter, was busy drawing the fourth season of the series when he learnedHe had Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 38 years old at the time of his diagnosis - just a year less than his father when he died. "I think I have been concerned since the age of 11, and my father died, with the idea of ​​the age of 39:Will I live so long? What would it look like? Discover that I had the Hodgkin was alarming, but at the same time, I felt a little perplexed, like: "Wow. Eh. How interesting, "he saidThe New York Times in 2010.

Although Hall kept his secret diagnosis during the season, he later became public. "I'm happy to have done it," he saidThe Guardian In 2014, "because I really underestimated how it would beA source of inspiration or strength for others. Just to see someone you know and spend time watching, who passes through the process of successfully, is useful. ""

3
Sofia Vergara

Sofía Vergara at the premiere of
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

While playing Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in comedy ABCModern family,,Sofia Vergara was the best paid female actor on television. But in 2001, at the age of 28, the doctor of Vergara made a shocking discovery during a routine assessment: a bump in his neck which would prove to be a cancerousthyroid tumor.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"When you are young andYou hear this word, "cancer" Your mind goes to so many places, "said VergaraNBC News In 2021. "But I tried not to panic and I decided to make an instruction. I read each book and I discovered everything I could on this subject." The star settled on a treatment which included surgery to eliminate his thyroid gland, his radiation and his daily thyroid hormone.

"I feel very lucky," said VergaraHealth in 2011. "In many women,Cancer is not found Until menopause, and by then it is too late. ""

Read this then:Al Roker warns everyone to do it after his cancer diagnosis.

4
Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue
Daniele Venturelli / Wireimage via Getty Images

Australian pop starKylie Minogue was only 36 years old when she learned that she had breast cancer. In an interview in 2020 withPeople, she thought about learning her diagnosis of 2005. "It is as if the earth had somehow slipped from her axis.You see everything differently"She told the magazine.

Having undergone a tumotomy and chemotherapy to treat his cancer, the star went to remission the following year. However, she says that a lesson that she learned of the experience stayed with her long after her recovery: "You really don't know what someone is going through," she saidPeople.

5
Barry Watson

Barry Watson
Gregg Deguire / Wireimage via Getty Images

Barry Watson Played in the popular WB series7th Sky As a eldest son and brother Matt Camden. But in 2002, at the age of 28, the star learnedHe had Hodgkin lymphoma. Watson took a leave of the series to undergo chemotherapy and returned for his 150th episode with his undetectable cancer.

Now two decades after his diagnosis, Watson says that experience is both a distant memory and always with him. "It's always suchA large part of my life Because I always think about it, but also time has passed where it is almost: "Did it really happen? Did I really go through all of this? And now having this other life with my wife and children that they were not even part of this time, it looks like a life, "he saidABC News in 2021.

6
Edie Falco

Edie Falco
Roy Rochlin / Getty images

Sopranos starEdie Falco was 40 years old when shelearned that she had breast cancer. The award -winning actor at the Emmy Awards says his diagnosiswas particularly "surreal" Since she was expected at work on the set just hours after this fateful meeting.

Falco was deprived of both his diagnosis and treatment, only publishing his illness five months after having entered a remission. Speaking withParade In 2009, theNurse Jackie Star said she thought she had survived partly because she had beento its healthiest Enter the diagnosis. "I really took care of myself for about 15 years before becoming sick - not to drink, not [to use tobacco], I eat well - so I resisted myself. They gave me a very strong chemo. I was so lucky that two of the greatest things in my life - my sobriety and my breast cancer - gathered in the order in which they occurred. ""

7
Tom Green

Tom Green
Slave vlasic / getty images

WhenMTV accommodateTom Green went public with his testicular cancer battle at the age of 28, he was among the first young celebrities to do so.

In 2000, he transformed his real medical drama into a Comey-Meets-Documentary program entitledThe Tom Green Cancer Special. Green explained toWeekly entertainment How the idea happened: "I felt really sorry for me and sit with [Co-Star]Glenn Humplik And [editor -in -chief]Derek Harvie, and we decided that it could be a way to get out of the depressing tip, "he said.

The actor says that, even if he began to make a "strange television program", he quickly realized that it could have an impact on his viewers. "All of a sudden, people came to us with dark and tearful, grateful and hand things. And we started to realize that it was perhaps really good, what we were doing," -It declared at the point of sale.

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8
Vanessa Bayer

Vanessa Bayer
Leon Bennett / FilmMagic via Getty Images

Saturday Night Live starVanessa Bayer was only 15 years old when shelearned that she had leukemia. After having undergone chemotherapy, she finally went to remission when she entered her last year of high school. "I think that having cancer has definitely shaped my comedy because I found so many ways andreasons to laugh while I was sick, and that really gave me a stronger comic point of view, "she saidFacing Cancer magazine In 2019. "It's so therapeutic laughter ... And, in addition, anyone spent a lot of time in a hospital knows that there is a lot of laughter."

His new project,I love it for you, is based on his experiences with child cancer. "This characterhad childhood leukemia And I had childhood leukemia, "said BayerEntertainment tonight. "I would use in a way the fact that I was sick to get a special treatment and I ... I would capitalize on the advantages of having cancer," she said, adding: "I thought it would be fun to do something where I explored this element. "

9
TIG Notaro

Tig Notaro
Images Craig Barritt / Getty

At 40, actor and actor StandupTIG Notaro Mounted on stage at the Comedy Club Largo in Los Angeles. "Good evening, hello. I have cancer. How are you?" She started, to the sound of dispersed and uncomfortable laughter. "The guys relax, everything is fine," she replied dryly.

The whole - which was so well received thatSound recording was nominated for a Grammy Award - filed the diagnosis of the young actor's breast cancer, which would require a bilateral mastectomy and hormone therapy.

In 2016, she opened in NPR about her decision toMakes a naked diagnosis On stage, only a week after receiving it. "I really want to look back now that I probably asked for help at a certain level, you know? I was really amazed by the number of people affected and lifted by performance, and it was a Such a relief after having put this vulnerable define there. "

10
Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor
Karwai Tang / Wireimage via Getty Images

At the age of 37,Trainspotting starEwan McGregor had a mole under his right eye checked by a doctor. "I went to see a specialist who thought they would better be kidnapped, and indeed he was right", "Cosmopolitan reported her to say at the time.

thered Mill The actor seemed imperturbable by experience. He shared that even if the mole was cancerous, he thought it was "not so serious".

11
Cynthia Nixon

Cynthia Nixon
Monica Schipper / Wireimage via Getty Images

Sex and city starCynthia Nixon beendiagnosed breast cancer In 2002 at the age of 40. The star was not surprised by the news, having seen his mother survive the same diagnosis. "I always thought: 'I am probablyGo have breast cancer. There is a very good chance, "said NixonABC News In 2008.

While the actor admits that she was initially "frightened" by learning her state, she says that she felt very optimistic about how she was taken. "I was very aware of if it will happen, it is the best way to happen - that it is so early and that we can just get there."

12
Tarek El Moussa

Tarek El Moussa
Images Kevin Mazur / Getty for Jbl

Tarek El Moussa, Star of the successful HGTV seriesFlip or flopandReturn 101, survived cancer not once buttwice Before being 40. Diagnosed for the first time with thyroid cancer after a spectator of the show alerted him from a suspect bump on his neck, he later learned that he had also developed testicular cancer.

"My advice to others is as follows: if you think something is wrong, talk to as many health professionals as possible," he saidFacing Cancer magazine in 2016. "It is better to obtain opinions of five doctors rather than those who could make a mistake. In the end,You know your body. Trust your intestine, "he urged.

13
Giuliana Rancic

Giuliana Rancic
David Crotty / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

In 2011, 36 years oldE! News accommodateGiuliana Rancic shared a shocking announcement: she underwent treatment for breast cancer. Rancic says that even if she was a "nervous wreck"Make your battle for public cancer, she felt forced to share her story to encourage others to be tested. "I have so many young viewers who look at me and I want to help them," said Rancic onE! News (Going throughPeople). "I have an incredible platform to really help people, that's why it was really important for me toShare this story. ""

The television host implores her viewers to "make an appointment with your doctor, make sure you go to your annual appointment, find how to give yourself a self-examination." She adds: "I think we have done such a good work of awareness of breast cancer, but you must then become aware and transform it into action."

Read this then:The "controversial" way that Ben Stiller learned that he had cancer.


Categories: Health
Tags: Cancer / Celebrities / News
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