“Beverly Hills, 90210” star Shannen Doherty is opening up about her Stage 4 breast cancer, recently revealing that her cancer has spread to her bones.
“I don't want to die,” she told People on Wednesday. “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. I'm just not — I'm not done.”
The “Charmed” star was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission two years later. However, in February 2020, Doherty announced that her cancer returned the year before and was categorized as stage 4. In June of this year, she took to Instagram to share that it had metastasized to her brain.
“When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?,’ that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life,” she explained.
Doherty said she hopes to raise awareness and funds for cancer research, adding, “It’s insane to me [that] we still don’t have a cure.” She also wants to counter the misconception that those with cancer are now useless:
“They put you out to pasture at a very early age — ‘You’re done, you’re retired,’ and we’re not,” she said. “We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward.”
Doherty continued, “I know it sounds cheesy and crazy, but you’re just more aware of everything, and you feel so blessed. We’re the people who want to work the most, because we’re just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here.”
