Shannen Doherty Shares Emotional Health Update Amid Cancer Treatment

Shannen Doherty is giving fans a vulnerable glimpse into her cancer journey.

The actress took to Instagram earlier today to share a video from earlier this year in which she received her first round of radiation, just a week after receiving results from a CT scan that showed she'd developed mets on her brain—meaning that her breast cancer had metastasized, or spread.

"January 12, 2023," she captioned the video, going to explain, "On January 5th, my ct scan showed Mets in my brain. Yesterdays [sic] video was showing the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation to your brain."

She continued, "January 12, the first round of radiation took place. My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life. I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at cedar sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like."

Yesterday, she shared a video showing the process of getting fitted for her radiation mask, a custom device that is molded to a patient's face and secures to the table beneath them to keep them in place when receiving radiation to the head or neck. In that video, she lay on a metal table under a blanket as somebody explained the procedure to her. Someone else then stepped in to help as they took a sheet of flexible plastic and molded it to her face.

Fans applauded her for her transparency, and those that have been through something similar sent their own words of encouragement.

"I also have metastatic breast cancer. I see you. I understand and am holding space for you. I have a lot of friends who’ve been living for 6-10+ years with brain mets!" one shared.

"I’m a hospital social worker, and I don’t have the opportunity to see this part of my patients struggle. Thank you for being so open about this. As someone who cares deeply for my patients, I’m grateful for this education. While I don’t know what this feels like myself, I will forever think about your story to make sure I’m giving my patients the most empathetic and supportive care I’m humanly able to," another wrote.

"I’m so very sorry you’ve had to endure this. 5 years ago my 12 year old son at the time started losing vision and was found to have a tumor on his optic nerve. They found a form of brain cancer. He had to go through radiation and have a mask made as well. 5 years later his tumor is unstable again and he’s having surgery to have it removed in July. Cancer is an awful disease. You are so brave! ❤️," a third shared.

Doherty was originally diagnosed in 2015 and entered remission in 2017. In February 2020, she announced that it had returned.