9 Inspiring Faces Of Breast Cancer

Last year, more than 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer were estimated to be diagnosed. 1 in 8 women is expected to receive a diagnosis during the course of her lifetime, according to BreastCancer.org.

It's nearly impossible to find someone today who hasn't been affected in some way by the disease -- with a mother, a sister, a grandmother or a friend diagnosed at some point.

But sometimes those women are more well-known. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month this October, we rounded up just a few of the inspiring faces of breast cancer over the past several years.

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• Giuliana Rancic

  The 36-year-old "E! News" host announced in October on<a href="http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/17/8363134-es-giuliana-rancic-reveals-she-has-breast-cancer" target="_hplink"> NBC's Today show</a> that she has breast cancer, and that she was alerted to the cancer via a mammogram during her third in vitro fertilization attempt. "Through my attempt to get pregnant for the third time, we sadly found out that I have early stages of breast cancer," she said <a href="http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/17/8363134-es-giuliana-rancic-reveals-she-has-breast-cancer" target="_hplink">on the Today show</a>. "It's been a shock. A lot of people have been asking, we saw that you went and got IVF, are you pregnant? But sadly, we've had to put that off." Rancic underwent a double lumpectomy and removal of several of her lymph nodes, but Rancic later went on the TODAY show in December to say that the cancer was not completely cleared by those treatments and that she will <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/double-mastectomy-giuliana-rancic-breast-cancer_n_1129433.html" target="_hplink">undergo a double mastectomy</a>.

• Wanda Sykes

  In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres aired last month, Wanda Sykes revealed that she had been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/23/wanda-sykes-breast-cancer_n_977761.html#s312402&title=Wanda_Sykes" target="_hplink">diagnosed with breast cancer</a> and underwent a double mastectomy. "I had breast cancer. Yeah, I know it's scary," Sykes said in the interview. "This was in February. I went for the reduction. I had real big boobs and I just got tired of knocking over stuff. Every time I eat ... Oh lord. I'd carry a Tide stick everywhere I go. My back was sore so it was time to have a reduction." After the reduction, the pathology report found ductal carcinoma in situ in her left breast, which prompted Skykes, who has a <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20531010,00.html" target="_hplink">family history of breast cancer</a>, to opt for a double mastectomy. And while the diagnosis is scary, she hasn't lost her <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/23/wanda-sykes-breast-cancer_n_977761.html#s312402&title=Wanda_Sykes" target="_hplink">signature humor</a>. "I was like, 'I don't know, should I talk about it or what?' How many things could I have? I'm black, then lesbian. I can't be the poster child for everything ... At least with the LGBT issues we get a parade, we get a float, it's a party. [But] I was real hesitant about doing this, because I hate walking. I got a lot of [cancer] walks coming up."

• Elizabeth Edwards

  Elizabeth Edwards was first diagnosed with breast cancer just hours after her husband and presidential-hopeful John Kerry conceded their election -- she had originally noticed a lump in her breast during the campaign. She continued to fight the disease on and off until she passed away in December 2010, after learning that the cancer had spread to her liver. Her family asked that, in lieu of flowers, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/elizabeth-edwards-death-donations-wade-edwards-foundation_n_793464.html" target="_hplink">donations be made</a> to the <a href="http://www.wade.org/" target="_hplink">Wade Edwards Foundation</a>, which was founded in honor of Edwards' son, Wade, who died in a car crash at the age of 16.

• Christina Applegate

  In 2008, actress Christina Applegate shared in a "Good Morning America" interview that she had been <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5606034&page=1" target="_hplink">dagnosed with breast cancer</a> at the age of 36 -- she also opted for a bilateral mastectomy instead of radiation or chemotherapy. "I didn't want to go back to the doctors every four months for testing and squishing and everything. I just wanted to kind of get rid of this whole thing for me. This was the choice that I made and it was a tough one," she said <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5606034&page=1" target="_hplink">in the interview</a>. "Sometimes, you know, I cry. And sometimes I scream. And I get really angry. And I get really upset, you know, into wallowing in self-pity sometimes. And I think that it's all part of the healing." Perhaps the best healing of all came earlier this year when Applegate gave birth to baby Sadie with musician Martyn LeNoble. "She's healed me in so many ways. She's just made my life so much better. I've been kind of sad for a long time, and she's just opened my whole soul," Applegate <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20467525,00.html" target="_hplink">told <em>People</em></a> in an exclusive interview this past February.

• Melissa Etheridge

  In 2005, rock-and-roll artist Etheridge underwent a lumpectomy and five rounds of chemotherapy and radiation to eradicate her breast cancer. "I had been running along in my life at a fast pace. When I heard it was cancer, I just stood still," Etheridge told <em>Shape</em> magazine in a 2009 interview. "My life passed over me like a big wave, and after, I was left there standing. This turned out to be a very good thing. I stopped. I looked at my life, I looked at my body and spirit." In the midst of her treatment, Etheridge found out she was <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6994469/ns/dateline_nbc/t/melissa-etheridges-brave-comeback/" target="_hplink">nominated for a Grammy</a> for her song "Breathe" -- and while she wasn't sure she'd make an appearance at first, Etheridge ultimately decided not only to attend, but to perform in a Janis Joplin tribute. Taking to the stage bald and with no eyebrows from chemo, she belted out Joplin's classic, "Piece Of My Heart." "It was very special that I had been presented with a day, that I could come back into this entertainment world, and show everyone that you are back and okay, and thought, okay," Etheridge told <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6994469/ns/dateline_nbc/t/melissa-etheridges-brave-comeback/" target="_hplink">MSNBC at the time</a>. "I'm going to do this. And I'm not gonna be afraid of the truth. The truth is, yes I had cancer. Yes, I got it out of me. Yes, I went through chemotherapy. Yes, I'm bald." Check out Etheridge's breast cancer causes on her <a href="http://www.melissaetheridge.com/pinkpage" target="_hplink">Pink Rage website</a>.

• Robin Roberts

  ABC's "Good Morning America" host Robin Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. "I never thought I'd be writing this. ... <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/abcs-robin-roberts-breast-cancer/story?id=3430554" target="_hplink">I have breast cancer</a>," she said in a message released by ABC in August 2007. While working on a tribute to her colleague Joel Siegel, who had died from cancer, Robins reported on how key early detection is -- and, taking her own advice, she did a self breast exam and found a lump. "Much as I was hoping the doctor would say it was nothing, she did a biopsy and confirmed that the lump I'd found was indeed an early form of breast cancer," Robins <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/abcs-robin-roberts-breast-cancer/story?id=3430554" target="_hplink">continued in her statement</a>. Robins underwent a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. In 2008, she told <em>People</em> magazine that she <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20238177,00.html" target="_hplink">complemented her regular doctor's visits</a> with acupuncture, exercise and advice from a nutritionist. "Yes, I am living with cancer," she <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20238177,00.html" target="_hplink">told <em>People</em></a>. "But don't go 'woe is me.' I don't want it. Don't need it. I'm still in the game. I don't want to say 'survivor.' I want to thrive."

• Kylie Minogue

  Australian singer Minogue was first diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2005 and underwent surgery and chemotherapy treatment. "When you are stripped of everything and you have to grow your eyelashes back, grow your hair back, it's just astonishing," Minogue told British <em>Glamour</em> magazine. "It's hard to express what I've learned from that, but a deep psychological and emotional shift has obviously taken place." This open and honest approach to her diagnosis led Minogue to be voted the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/03/us-cancer-celebrities-idUSTRE6820P120100903" target="_hplink">most inspirational breast cancer celebrity</a> in an online British-based poll, Reuters reports.

• Sheryl Crow

  Singer Sheryl Crow was <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2006-10-06/health/crow.cancer_1_breast-cancer-early-detection-cancer-patients?_s=PM:HEALTH" target="_hplink">diagnosed with breast cancer</a> in 2006 and, thanks to early detection, underwent a minimally invasive surgery and seven weeks of radiation therapy. Crow told <em>Health</em> magazine that <a href="http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411904_2,00.html" target="_hplink">she saw a nutritionist</a> when she was first diagnosed and began a diet full of fish, walnuts, colorful vegetables, fiber and healthy spices. "I kept my breast cancer tattoos -- where the radiation was lined up on my chest," Crow told <em>Health</em>. "Once in a while I look at it to remind myself that I have to put on my oxygen mask first before I put it on anybody else." Today, a cancer-free Crow is focused on spreading the message of early detection. In 2010, she <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/08/sheryl-crow-opsns-breast-cancer-imaging-center-/1" target="_hplink">founded the Sheryl Crow Center</a> as part of the Pink Lotus Breast Center, which was founded by her own surgeon, ABC News reports.

• Cynthia Nixon

  In 2008, the "Sex and the City" star went public with her <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/15/cynthia-nixon-on-her-love_n_96749.html" target="_hplink">cancer diagnosis</a>, revealing that she found a lump in its early stages and had it removed through radiation, The Huffington Post reported at the time. Nixon wrote in a 2008 <em>Newsweek</em> article that her mother was <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/10/03/a-family-of-strong-women.html" target="_hplink">diagnosed with breast cancer twice</a> -- the first time, Nixon was just 13. "I feel like I have a very <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/slideshow_n_991609.html#s384104&title=Cynthia_Nixon" target="_hplink">concrete story to tell</a>. My story isn't just my story, it mine and my mother's story," the <a href="http://ww5.komen.org/" target="_hplink">Susan G. Komen for the Cure</a> spokesperson has said.

Comments

[jac4jus]

01:00 PM on 10/26/2011

I pray Giuliana Rancic has a speedy recovery. I also support Breast Cancer Awareness in my own special way. http://www.cafepress.com/frenchflavorslovewillfindacure
http://www.zazzle.com/lovewillfindacure?rf=238272473975683137

[Cynthia Foxxe]

03:30 AM on 10/26/2011

toxins from tanning
hair products
makeup poisonous potions
duh...

[diamondlotus]

02:37 AM on 10/26/2011

I like Julianna. she has been through a lot just trying to have a baby and now this. Money isn't always everything and can't buy your way out of bad things like happening to you either. I feel sorry for anyone having to deal with cancer.

[rewith85man]

01:28 AM on 10/26/2011

Thank God that I am a man. I would not have to worry about "chest cancer" but would I?

[diamondlotus]

02:34 AM on 10/26/2011

Actually there has been a steep rise in the incidence of breast cancer in men also, so you do need to be concerned about that sad to say.

[miebssk]

02:39 AM on 10/26/2011

Men get breast cancer,too; only it ends up being much more deadly because men either don't believe they can get it, or they're too afraid of what other people will think. I worked with an 18yo young man once who was a breast cancer survivor. Even "John Shaft" himself--the actor Richard Roundtree-- is a breast cancer survivor. So don't think you're out of the woods. If by some bad luck you find a lump in your breasts (it's still called that if you're a guy), go immmediately to a doctor and get tested.

[wilkesgm]

12:59 AM on 10/26/2011

Yawn. Why be sympathetic to millionaires who have breast cancer? The vast majority of people who get cancer don't have limitless funds. My wife had ovarian cancer and thank God she's 10 years past that - but the cost of our health insurance is murderous. No, I do not want the government to crush insurance companies. I paid the money and continue to pay because my wife's life is worth the cost. What I am saying is that this article aggrandizes "stars" who have cancer. Sorry, it's the non-stars that draw my sympathy. The people who don't go to get chemo in a Rolls Royce.

[kdvogen]

11:07 PM on 10/25/2011

Us men certainly understand the importance of Breast Cancer awareness and treament. But please do not forget us men that have cancer challenges.

[Kevin V]

10:30 PM on 10/25/2011

My sister survived breast cancer, so I wish her well. But tell me again how she is a, "Star?" Please!

[joeshop8]

10:12 PM on 10/25/2011

I wish the Politicians would take half of Their campaign funds and give it to cancer research where it would do more good than acting like 15 year olds playing King of The Hill. If They had a shred of compassion They would re-direct Ther efforts to something positive instaed of mud slinging that accomplishes nothing!! People die while They have acess to the BEST health care on earth!!

[wilkesgm]

12:56 AM on 10/26/2011

Why don't you actively lay blame where it belongs? The Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006 - the last two years of Bush. In 2008 the had the House, Senate (supermajority) and White House. They spend trillions and cancer research of all kinds got less from them than Solyndra and the 1/2 billion they gave to Fiskars electric car - being built in Finland. You want money to be available for research - give it back to the private sector and let them make profits. They make profits by hiring people - who make wages, who give charitably. When the government decides to help some kind of noble cause, it somehow always feathers their own nests...

[theroadnowtaken]

08:38 PM on 10/25/2011

The one thing DOCTORS ARE NOT informinng women of is the DANGERS of IVF and Invetro. What they don't tell you is the raining amounts of women that are coming down with Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Pre-Cancerous cysts, etc after these treatments. I have met numerous women that have gone through this with no family history of cancer. They never had any problems cyst wise before IVF/Invetro. There is so much money to be made in IVF/Invetro that doctors WILL NOT inform you or keep a major blind eye to this ongoing, serious issue. My heart goes out to Guilliana and her husband. I, as well as many other women, have gone through the same thing only after having to endure IVF. Please, to all my sisters out there, don't think this can't happen to you. Cancer didn't and never has run in my family history....after IVF I was faced with no children but now cancer was my child. I beat it just as Guilliana will. Please heath this warning. Please. It is a very SERIOUS and REAL problem directly connected to the hormones they shoot you up with. It's dangerous and scary. Too many women have faced cancer or unusual growths in the uterus or breasts. It is linked to IVF/Invetro but 'they' the doctors will say no....but having researched this there is no other cause....the link is too dead on accurate. Traces it right back to IVF/Invetro.

[now for the facts]

12:16 AM on 10/26/2011

theroadnowtaken...
I too have done IVF (invitro, not invetro) three times. I'm also a Mammography Technologist, and have practiced in this field for over twenty years. With that said...You must be corrected with your false information.
#1. IVF does not cause breast cancer! Yes, some breast cancers have been linked to estrogen. However, the vast majority of breast cancers are NOT estrogen dependent/related.
#2. There is NO such thing as a pre-cancerous "cyst" a cyst is a benign finding. Cysts DO NOT turn cancerous. They are simply fluid filled.
#3. 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer DID NOT have a family history of breast cancer! Your biggest risk for getting breast cancer is...just being a woman! Secondly is...two first degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer (not other cancers, as you keep referring to).
#4. Of course IVF patients WILL experience ovarian cysts. This is part of the process. The induced hormones stimulate the ovaries, producing multiple follicles (cysts). When IVF is finished the ovaries return to their original size.
#5. For you to say..."There is no other cause for these cancers" is just plain ignorant on your part. If you would take the time to do "real" research you would find my information is entirely correct. Perhaps then you may not be so desperate to make up stories about all these "so-called" women you know that have breast and cervical cancer from IVF!

[debbydrutz]

08:26 PM on 10/25/2011

Guiliana, you go girl...we are praying for you!!

[Apelika]

08:15 PM on 10/25/2011

First let me say that I am a lucky one as I survived my BC surgery and treatment with a minimum of problems. Now, it is all well and good to publish the trials and travails of the famous people that are diagnosed....why can we not have more attention on the ordinary person that is diagnosed and treated and survives of dies? Odds are thre are more of the unfamous then the famous......

[Steve Garrison]

08:09 PM on 10/25/2011

After watching my (when diagnosied) 38 year old wife go thru a double masectomy, Chemo, Radiation, removel of her Overies and it still spread to her brain, spine and liver all I can say is these women are remarkable. My wife fought it for 6 long hard years. I was laid off from my job of 14 years in Dec. of 2008 she passed in Jan. of 2009. She told me we would be better off with the life insurance if she quit fighting. We have idendtical twin now 14 year old girls. I know she quit fighting so we could get the life insurance money and I blame myself everyday for it.

[meat-a-saur-us]

08:38 PM on 10/25/2011

SO sorry for your loss. Your wife lives on in your twin girls.......

[Laurainaz]

09:45 PM on 10/25/2011

Steve - she probably was so very tired of fighting and loved you all so much, it was just her time to go to heaven and be an angel up there. Don't blame yourself and love those girls.

[Pat Wolf]

07:44 PM on 10/25/2011

Let's NOT forget our men! Our Sons, Fathers, Brothers, Husbands! My former husband had breast cancer and Hopefully they got it all. My husband has the BRCA1 gene and lost all the women in his family back to his grandmother, aunts and mother. His sister is the only survivor. His brothers and uncle feel it's not necesarry to test! WELL, My husband goes for mamagrams, my parents have lost male friends to breast cancer, and the breast cancer gene also affect men with prostate cancer! I feel horrible for women, but I get tired with people thinking it ONLY attacks women

[geldonski]

07:16 PM on 10/25/2011

WHO?

[richjack4]

10:00 PM on 10/25/2011

Best to-the-point comment on this blog!

[Carolinesoswt]

06:54 PM on 10/25/2011

Just because these people are "stars" doesn't make them any better than the everyday woman. Breast Cancer is Breast Cancer no matter who she/he may be.

[meat-a-saur-us]

08:34 PM on 10/25/2011

But luckily for the celebs, they can afford substantial & specialized treatment, whereas many women who have no insurance are not even getting regular screenings.......sad.