EastEnders star Samantha Womack reveals she’s cancer free five months after her diagnosis
(Picture: PA)Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has revealed that she is cancer free five months after her diagnosis.
The 50-year-old shared that she is still undergoing preventive radiotherapy “to try and nuke any leftover cells” but is excited to go back to work after a difficult year.
The actress said: "Now I’m just having some treatment as I go back to work, as a prevention – it was crazy, I was doing The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – the producers there were amazing and gave me time off.
"We’re feeling a lot better than we were. My treatment is ongoing for breast cancer, the surgery was quite difficult to recover from just because it’s quite tender when you have lymph nodes removed, there’s a few mobility issues at the beginning.”
Reflecting on her treatment, she told OK! magazine: “The first round of chemotherapy was pretty hardcore really, it was quite toxic…” before adding: “I’ve got radiotherapy for a bit of time to try and nuke any leftover cells.”
Last month, Womack revealed her breast cancer was found during a “random check”.
Womack announced her cancer diagnosis when she paid tribute to Olivia Newton-John on social media following her death from breast cancer in August aged 73.
Discussing her diagnosis on This Morning, the actor told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that she did not find a lump when she was diagnosed five months ago, saying her cancer was discovered in a random check.
She shared: “It was really incredible because I didn’t find a lump, I didn’t feel unwell.
“There had been a lot of illness around our friends and family and I just thought I’d get a random check and I had an ultrasound, and it showed a little shadow - at that point it could be anything, a cyst… then I had further investigations and then that diagnosis.”
Describing herself as “very lucky”, Womack revealed that the lump was less than 2cm and was able to undergo a lumpectomy to have the piece of tissue and five lymph nodes removed.
The actress also described battling cancer as “terrifying” but praised the treatments that are available now to treat the disease.
