Jane Fonda reveals she has been diagnosed with cancer and has started chemotherapy
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Jane Fonda announced Friday that she has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a "very treatable cancer," and has begun chemotherapy.
The Oscar-winning actress and activist, 84, struck an optimistic tone in a statement posted to social media and said she would not let the disease stand in the way of her raising awareness of the dangers of climate change.
"So, my dear friends, I have something personal I want to share," Fonda wrote. "I've been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and have started chemo treatments. This is a very treatable cancer. 80% of people survive, so I feel very lucky. I'm also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments. I realize, and it's painful, that I am privileged in this. Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don't have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right."
Caroline McCredie/Getty Images Jane Fonda
She added, "We also need to be talking much more not just about cures but about causes so we can eliminate them. For example, people need to know that fossil fuels cause cancer. So do pesticides, many of which are fossil fuel-based, like mine. I'm doing chemo for 6 months and am handling the treatments quite well and, believe me, I will not let any of this interfere with my climate activism."
According to the Mayo Clinic, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is "a type of cancer that begins in your lymphatic system, which is part of the body's germ-fighting immune system. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, white blood cells called lymphocytes grow abnormally and can form growths (tumors) throughout the body." The organization also notes that advances in diagnosis and treatment "have helped improve the prognosis for people with this disease."
Fonda has a long and decorated screen career that includes Academy Award-winning performances in 1971's Klute and 1978's Coming Home. She received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014 and the Golden Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award last year.
Fonda recently starred alongside Lily Tomlin on the Netflix show Grace and Frankie, whose seventh and final season was released earlier this year. She is also a committed climate activist and was repeatedly arrested in 2019 as the result of taking part in protests in Washington, D.C.
Read Fonda's full statement below.
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