Mom and Daughter Diagnosed with Colon Cancer 10 Days Apart: ‘What on Earth Would Be the Chances?’

While Catherine Tudor is now cancer-free, her daughter, Rihannon, is still still undergoing treatment

A U.K. mom and her daughter were diagnosed with cancer just ten days apart — and now they’re hoping to raise awareness about the importance of continuing research.

Catherine Tudor was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2022. Ten days later, her daughter, Rihannon, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, the BBC reported.

“When my mum told me, obviously as upset as I was with her diagnosis I remember thinking, 'Well, she's probably got the bad luck and I'll be okay,' " Rihannon told the outlet, adding, "What on earth would be the chances of us both being diagnosed with the same cancer within a week of each other?"

Not only was the Cheltenham, England, resident given the same diagnosis, but her condition "wasn't great." Per the BBC, she had more than 20 tumors in her liver and lungs. She also has been undergoing biweekly chemotherapy and other treatments to keep her cancer from spreading.

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Referred to as “bowel cancer” in the U.K., colon cancer begins in the part of the large intestine, called the colon, the Mayo Clinic explained.

According to the American Cancer Society, “colon cancer most often spreads to the liver” — as it did with Tudor — but it can also spread to the lungs, brains or lymph nodes.

Treatment “usually involves surgery,” the Mayo Clinic explained, adding that radiation and chemotherapy may also be used to stop the spread of cancer.

In the U.S., colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death for men under 50, and the second-leading cause of cancer death for women under 50, according to the American Cancer Society, which expects to see a record-breaking 2 million cancer diagnoses this year.

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While Rihannon is still undergoing treatment, her mother is now cancer-free. "It's a continuous roller coaster of emotions but I am a really strong advocate of positivity," she told the BBC, adding that she believes "a positive mindset has a really strong physiological effect on your brain.”

"So thinking you can fight it and get through it — I think the body responds to that," Rihannon continued, adding, "My body — thank goodness — has had a positive response and, over the last two years, I've had multiple reductions in tumors."

Despite her positive outlook, she described chemotherapy, radiation and surgery as “brutal.” But she's hoping new treatments will be discovered, as opposed to “the conventional treatment, surgery and then, hopefully, no disease [route]," which she told the BBC is "not an option for me."

"Research holds the key to hopefully keep me going," Rihannon told the BBC, adding that she’s looking towards targeted therapy and immunotherapy as possible routes to continue her struggle against cancer. "That's why research is so vital."

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