Inspirational Celebrities Who Won Battles Against Breast Cancer

Once upon a time, breast cancer was considered an embarrassing disease that couldn’t be treated and wasn’t to be brought up in polite conversation. Thankfully, though, times have changed. Nowadays, the 15-year survival rate for breast cancer sufferers is 78 percent, and more people are prepared to speak openly about their breast cancer journeys. These celebrities are among those who have defeated it.

1. Dame Maggie Smith

The much respected, much-loved Harry Potter actress Dame Maggie Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. But she was determined to still appear as Professor McGonagall in the franchise’s next installment. “I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on,” she told The Telegraph in 2009. Nevertheless, by 2010 she’d received the all-clear.

2. Sheryl Crow

Singer Sheryl Crow has been both very unlucky and very unlucky when it comes to her health. In 2006 she was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous breast lesion and had to undergo both a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. She recovered, but then in 2011 discovered she had a brain tumor... which fortunately turned out to be benign.

3. Edie Falco

The Sopranos actress Edie Falco kept her 2003 breast cancer diagnosis a secret from most. In fact, producer Ilene Landress, a close friend of Falco, organized The Sopranos shoots around her chemo treatment. But by the next year she was in remission, and only then did she decide to go public with her struggle.

4. Rita Wilson

Actress Rita Wilson broke the news of her breast cancer in 2015. She revealed that she’d recently had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. “I am recovering and most importantly, expected to make a full recovery. Why? Because I caught this early, have excellent doctors, and because I got a second opinion,” she said in a statement to People. Wilson also thanked her husband, Tom Hanks.