Olivia Munn Details Breast Cancer Treatments Putting Her Into Medically Induced Menopause

Lexy Perez
·4 min read
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Olivia Munn is shared the harrowing details of her breast cancer journey, which has led her to have medically induced menopause.

In a People magazine cover story published Wednesday, Munn reflected on her breast cancer diagnosis she revealed publicly last month, which has since led to four surgeries and a double mastectomy. She also shared how partner John Mulaney supported her throughout with their son.

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“I was not someone who obsessed over death or was afraid of it in any way,” she said, adding that “having a little baby at home made everything much more terrifying.

“You realize cancer doesn’t care who you are; it doesn’t care if you have a baby or if you don’t have time,” she said. “It comes at you, and you have no choice but to face it head-on.”

When faced with a fast-moving cancer known as luminal B, Munn shared that within 30 days she underwent a lymph node dissection, a nipple delay procedure — a surgical process that spares the nipples ahead of breast reconstruction — and a double mastectomy.  She noted that she could’ve opted out of the nipple delay but is “glad” she decided to proceed with it.

“I had amazing doctors, but it was still a negotiation sometimes on what we are doing,” she said. “But I’m glad I did. I want to give myself the best shot of keeping the parts of me that I can keep.”

After “walking around thinking that I had no breast cancer” after her annual mammogram three months prior came back clear, she eventually learned that her lifetime breast cancer risk score was a 37.3 percent — anything higher than a 20 percent score is considered high-risk and additional screening beyond a standard mammogram is likely necessary. She also recalled learning that a spot in her right breast was “just a hairline away from my lymph nodes.”

After an ultrasound detected two more tumors in her right breast, which biopsies confirmed to be stage 1 invasive cancer, and another MRI confirmed cancer in the left breast as well, Munn underwent a double mastectomy. During surgery, Munn explained that doctors discovered a “tangerine-sized” section of ductal carcinoma in situ, a preinvasive cancer, in her right breast. “Hearing that news gave me peace that I’d made the right decision,” Munn said.

“There’s so much information, and you’re making these huge decisions for the rest of your life. I really tried to be prepared, but the truth is that nothing could prepare me for what I would feel like, what it would look like and how I would handle it emotionally. It was a lot tougher than I expected,” she said.

After taking time to recover from her double mastectomy last year, Munn later underwent reconstruction surgery last fall. “Keeping it private for as long as I did allowed me time to fight without any outside noise at all,” she said. Munn said that prior to the procedure, she informed the doctors that she wanted to “go smaller.” She recalled, “It’s so important to say what you want out loud — and don’t stop. Even as the anesthesia was making its way into my body, the last thing I said was ‘Please go smaller.’”

Up until that point the actress’ treatment had included chemotherapy or radiation, but in November she also began hormone suppression therapy to mitigate future risk, which has put her into medically induced menopause. “I’m constantly thinking it’s hot, my hair is thinning, and I’m tired a lot,” she shared.

Munn credits partner Mulaney for being a strong support system: “It would’ve felt like climbing an iceberg without him. I don’t think he had a moment to himself, between being an incredibly hands-on father and going to and from the hospital — taking Malcolm to the park, putting him to nap, driving to Cedars-Sinai, hanging out with me, going home, putting Malcolm to bed, coming back to me. And he did it all happily.”

With her journey thus far, Munn said she feels “grateful” to have been “given the opportunity to fight” and finds strength in her son. “When I’m with him, it’s the only time my brain doesn’t think about being sick. I’m just so happy with him. And it puts a lot of stuff into perspective. Because if my body changes, I’m still his mom. If I have hot flashes, I’m still his mom. If I lose my hair, I’m still his mom. That’s really what matters the most to me. I get to be here for him.”

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