Famous Faces And Families Who Have Been Touched By Ovarian Cancer

Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates explained for the first time this week why she kept her 2004 ovarian cancer diagnosis a secret. She first revealed she had been diagnosed in 2009, but kept her experiences with treatment under wraps until divulging more details in an interview with Anderson Cooper.

"I was contracted to go into a movie at that time," she said. "My doctors at the time, they had to get insurance approval and all of that so I was very quiet about it and had to go back to work right away."

The American Cancer Society estimates that 22,280 U.S. women receive an ovarian cancer diagnosis each year, and about 15,500 will die from ovarian cancer. It's the ninth most common cancer among women, but fifth in cancer deaths among women.

Ovarian cancer is most common in women over age 55, according to the National Cancer Institute, and women who have never been pregnant are at an increased risk. Women with a family history of ovarian, breast, uterus or colorectal cancer also have a higher chance of developing the disease.

Called the "silent killer" for its often misdiagnosed or overlooked symptoms, ovarian cancer has many famous faces as allies in raising awareness for the cause. Click through the slideshow below to see more celebs who fought the disease, stars who supported sick family members and other A-listers who have gotten involved.

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• Shannon Miller

  The most decorated American Olympic gymnast has said she <a href="http://www.lhj.com/blogs/ladieslounge/2011/09/14/olympic-gymnast-shannon-miller-on-ovarian-cancer/" target="_hplink">almost delayed getting checked</a> by her gynecologist in February of 2011, on the day her doctor found a baseball-sized tumor on one of her ovaries. It turned out to be a germ cell malignancy, a form of ovarian cancer <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/gymnastics/news/story?id=6158854" target="_hplink">more common in teenagers and women under 30</a>, according to ESPN. After having the ovary and cyst removed, Miller underwent nine weeks of chemotherapy. She told ABC in the video above that she had no symptoms, which is why she's particularly passionate about raising awareness about early detection. She has detailed her treatment on her health and wellness website, <a href="http://shannonmillerlifestyle.com/" target="_hplink">Shannon Miller Lifestyle</a>.

• Coretta Scott King

  After U.S. doctors deemed her <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5180053" target="_hplink">ovarian cancer terminal</a>, the civil rights pioneer's family and friends said King sought out alternative treatment in Mexico, where she <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1154996,00.html" target="_hplink">passed away at the age of 78</a>, in 2006.

• Gilda Radner

  The comedic actress, famous for her 1975 to 1980 stint on "Saturday Night Live", died in 1989 from ovarian cancer. She handled the disease as only a comedian could: with humor. <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20115242,00.html" target="_hplink">As <em>People</em> wrote</a>: <blockquote>Even as she was dying, Gilda Radner went for laughs. At home, Gene Wilder remembers, she enacted her infamous "Saturday Night" character Roseanne Roseannadanna, shouting at the cancer cells invading her body, "Hey, what are you trying to do in here? Make me sick?"</blockquote> Her husband, actor Gene Wilder, became active in raising awareness after her death for both early detection and the need for easily accessible support systems for cancer patients, through the organization named for his wife, <a href="http://www.gildasclub.org/" target="_hplink">Gilda's Club</a>.

• Evelyn Lauder

  A champion of breast cancer awareness, Lauder, daughter-in-law of Estee Lauder, created the Pink Ribbon campaign and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, after her own diagnosis of breast cancer in 1989. While breast and ovarian cancers have been linked to the same hereditary gene, in 2007, Lauder <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/nyregion/evelyn-h-lauder-champion-of-breast-cancer-research-dies-at-75.html" target="_hplink">developed ovarian cancer unrelated to her breast cancer</a>, a spokeswoman for the Estee Lauder Companies told the <em>New York Times</em>. She died from the disease in November of 2011, at 75.

• Jessica Tandy

  Famous for playing Blanche Dubois on Broadway and the title role in "Driving Miss Daisy," the actress <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-09-12/features/1994255176_1_jessica-tandy-driving-miss-miss-daisy" target="_hplink">passed away in 1994</a> at age 85 from ovarian cancer, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0607.html" target="_hplink">according to her husband, actor Hume Cronyn</a>. <em>Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-light/2091697951/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Alan Light</a></em>

• Diem Brown

  While her acting credentials don't hold a candle to Broadway, a younger generation has a famous face of ovarian cancer all their own in reality star Diem Brown, of MTV's "The Real World" fame. She was <a href="http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2006/10/cancer-diary-diem-brown" target="_hplink">diagnosed at age 24 with stage II ovarian cancer</a>, and had one ovary, several lymph nodes and part of one of her fallopian tubes removed, <em>Glamour</em> reported. "I had no idea why this was happening to me," she told <em>Glamour</em> of finding out she was sick. "I'm a healthy girl: I'm a vegetarian; I don't smoke; I barely drink. I kept thinking, I have so much to do; I'm not ready to die." While the survival rate is much lower for women whose ovarian cancer is diagnosed in advanced stages, Brown is currently healthy, having gone on to tackle additional TV challenges with her Real World and Road Rules colleagues.

• Patrick Dempsey

  Ovarian cancer comes back in about 70 percent of women diagnosed. That's what happened to Patrick Dempsey's mother, Amanda, in 1999. The actor helped his mother through chemotherapy then, as well as in 1996 when her disease was first caught, at stage IV. <a href="http://www.webmd.com/ovarian-cancer/features/patrick-dempsey-cancer-caregiver" target="_hplink">Survival rates aren't promising</a> for most advanced cases, but, according to WebMD, Amanda "seems to have beaten those odds." Dempsey went on to found <a href="http://www.dempseycenter.org/content/4078/Patricks_Story/" target="_hplink">The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing</a>, dedicated to providing education, support and wellness services, according to its website.

• Angelina Jolie

  The actress's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in January of 2007 at age 56, after a <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20062643,00.html" target="_hplink">7-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer</a>. "There are no words to express what an amazing woman and mother she was," Jolie and brother James Haven told <em>People</em> in a statement. "She was our best friend."

• Kyle MacLachlan

  The "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex and the City" actor's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the early 1980s, he told <em>People</em>, and died from it in 1986. "I was devastated by it and wanted to do something to help," he said. He teamed up with Callaway Golf Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation in 2008 to <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20423321,00.html" target="_hplink">film a PSA</a> aimed not just at women, but men, too. "Every man has a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, friends," he said. "It might encourage husbands to ... take care of the women in our lives."

• Ray Romano

  The actor's cousin Linda is an <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/help-spread-the-word/our-celebrity-friends/" target="_hplink">ovarian cancer survivor</a> and director of <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/about-us/survivors-teaching-students/" target="_hplink">Survivors Teaching Students</a>, a program aimed at teaching medical students about the symptoms of ovarian cancer. He filmed this short video <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/help-spread-the-word/our-celebrity-friends/" target="_hplink">asking viewers for their support</a> in raising awareness for the disease.

• Eva Longoria

  Like "Desperate Housewives" co-star MacLaughlan, Longoria has also teamed up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Callaway Golf Foundation to raise awareness about ovarian cancer. She is also a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-longoria-parker" target="_hplink">supporter of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund</a>, the leading independent, non-profit organization for advancing research, raising awareness and finding a cure for ovarian cancer in the U.S.

• Kelly Ripa

  The TV personality, who is featured on TV ads for Electrolux, has helped <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video?id=5714650" target="_hplink">raise awareness of ovarian cancer</a>. For each participant in various initiatives, <a href="http://www.kelly-confidential.com/" target="_hplink">Electrolux donates $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation</a>.

• Janet Jackson

  In the December 2009 issue of <em>InStyle</em>, the singer was photographed wearing the Cartier Love Charity bracelet. For each bracelet sold, Cartier <a href="http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20205734_20207002_20470084,00.html" target="_hplink">donated $200 to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance</a>. Jackson was inspired to support the foundation <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/2009/11/18/abc-special-with-janet-jackson/janet/" target="_hplink">on behalf of a friend</a> who had been diagnosed with the disease at age 34. "She's been in remission for nine years, but just to think of the possibility of losing her was terrible," Jackson told the magazine. Bracelet sales raised over $100,000 for the cause, she added.

For more on cancer, click here.

For more on celebrity health, click here.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article stated that ovarian cancer is called the "silent killer" because of a lack of symptoms. Ovarian cancer does have symptoms, but they are often misdiagnosed or overlooked because of their similarity to the symptoms of many more common health conditions in women.

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Comments

[Leilani lei]

11:58 PM on 03/27/2012

I wish you all the best in your fight against cancer, and not to mention the rest of the world battling this disease.

Often, celebrities only get recognized for this awful disease, neglecting the world's vast population also trying to overcome in beating this force.

If God willing, Bless You All.

[lauratxga]

11:38 AM on 03/25/2012

And just why should I be more concerned or interested in someone having cancer just because they are a so called "celebrity". Thousands of women have fought cancer--how about inspiring stories from them--oh yea, we don't count because we aren't "celebrities" with messed up lives and psychotic issues that compel us to yell "look at me, look at me" all day and night.

[sir winston]

10:05 AM on 03/25/2012

My wife had everthing removed.She was 26 when her uterus was removed.She was in her 40's when she had her ovaries removed.Thank god she did.Her mother had uterus cancer and so did my mother.My mother died from it.Different treatment for both women.

[Joseph Efoghor]

07:57 PM on 03/23/2012

The incidence of ovarian cancer and other things like uterine fibroid, etc. is really on the increase world. I think a lot of things are contributing to this. apart from genetics, other things like technological advancement which have brought about growing livestock with artificial hormones are indirectly posing danger to human lives. We should watch our lifestyle and eating habit; our health depends on them to a great extent.

[lauratxga]

11:44 AM on 03/25/2012

I agree with you about our food source and chemicals in the environment contributing to developing disease. Genetically engineered foods, artifical hormones in beef and chicken, arsenic being fed to livestock to kill parasites that remain in the meat we then injest, artificial sweetners, and lets not forget the government mandated nightly absorbtion of chemicals direct from our beds--yes flame retardants (rat poison) infused into every mattress (other then organic ones) that the government decided we didn't need to know about so exempted the chemicals from being displayed on the bedding labels.

[Joseph Joyal]

03:06 PM on 03/23/2012

Having to get insurance approval for treatment is disgraceful these women don't have time for some schuck insurance guy to review the case.

[traceymarie]

09:51 PM on 03/23/2012

I had to wait 3 months, i finally with my doctors just started treatment and you bet my insurance paid

[FollowJesus]

01:36 PM on 03/25/2012

Obamacare will make the process even longer.

[Joseph Joyal]

02:31 PM on 03/26/2012

You get your information from Faux Newz. and it's wrong.

[st jean55]

02:13 PM on 03/23/2012

Watched my mother go through three years of living hell enduring this horrible, horrible cancer. Her belly was distended to the point she looked as if she were nine months pregnant by the time it was correctly diagnosed. Earlier on, when she first noticed symptoms, her doctor dx'd her with depression and anxiety. Needless to say, it was too late by the time she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This happened in the 80's and I hope there is no doctor today who is as ignorant as that.
I hope every day that the field of medicine will find an early test to diagnose this silent killer.

[bladerunner88]

05:31 PM on 03/24/2012

I WOULD SAY FROM MY EXPERIENCE ABOUT 8% OF DRS ARE IGNORANT, UNCARING, FACTORY WORKING HACKS WITH BLINDERS ON

[bladerunner88]

05:33 PM on 03/24/2012

SORRY I MEANT TO SAY 98% OF DRS ARE IGNORANT HACK, MONEY GRABBING AND USELESS.

[pacrimco]

09:46 PM on 03/22/2012

Great piece, thanks Shannon for sharing your talent and your life with us. God speed on a full recovery. We love you and your family.

[zyvin]

08:39 PM on 03/22/2012

I love her.

[SallyJay2000]

08:11 PM on 03/22/2012

I was told that ovarian cancer is caused by too many multiple partners. I read it somewhere.

[Dl337]

09:42 PM on 03/22/2012

You were totally misinformed. My mother had one sex partner in her life, and died of ovarian cancer in 2006. Sure you weren't watching Fox News?

[pacrimco]

09:48 PM on 03/22/2012

Don't believe everything you read or hear.

[sm14228]

07:21 PM on 03/22/2012

I lost 2 sister-in-laws to ovarian cancer. Both had symptoms that could be attributed to gastric problems. One lived 2 and half months, the other 2 and a half years. Lets get better diagnostic and treatments for this horrible disease.

[Misty Sanchez]

08:10 PM on 03/22/2012

So sorry for your loss! Yes, we definitely need better screening processes. I had a friend who died after being told for months she had indigestion. Too many women die who don't have to!

[sharr4580]

10:00 PM on 03/23/2012

I have a friend who is undergoing chemo for ovarian cancer--she was also told that she had digestion problems. Women need to be more proactive and see more than one dr. Don't let someone blow you off if you suspect that something else is going on.

[ActaNonVerbaNow]

07:21 PM on 03/22/2012

Female-only cancers are the only ones that matter and should dominate conversation. That's just my opinion.

[traceymarie]

09:53 PM on 03/23/2012

what is wrong with you

[ActaNonVerbaNow]

09:55 PM on 03/23/2012

I'm just training to be a feminist.

[Christine Sniff]

07:13 PM on 03/22/2012

My sister lost a 18 mo. battle to this quiet killer. She had symptoms deemed to be pre mennopause, age, weight, etc... She had the CA125 which did not come back as alarming. Yet, she had a 14 cm mass when they did a scan. It was found to have two ovarian cancers. One was a carcinoma and the other a sarcoma. Rare and deadly. No close family with cancer. Had she known the warning signs and read her own body better, she might have found this cancer earlier, but only with a doctor willing to listen and do more advanced test. (Scans and going in for a look inside, not a pap) Know your body best, ask alot of questions and demand answers til you are satisfied with the results. Thanks to those in the limelight willing to help bring more exposure to this cancer. It will help women know that a pap and pelvic don't find this cancer early, bring notice and dollars to get a better earlier test and eventually a CURE. I found Teal Toes.com is a great site for awareness symptom cards to have and give out. It is a good support site as well with great links. Prayers for those fighting and those lost to this cancer

[Morgan378]

07:06 PM on 03/22/2012

I'm very amazed that there is no test for ovarian cancer which occurs in an organ that produces many and varied hormones in the female body. Sure, if in women over 55 it may not be as apparent. But that there are no changes in the hormones even nominally produced, anomalies in the other organs requiring these hormones or even in the serum or plasma of a woman is astounding. Testicular cancer in men also (they take the entire testicle to test for it). There, at the least, must be a subtle change in these levels. If there were a test sensative enough to show further - investigation is required - that alone would be a wonderful advance for women. This "Silent Killer" - has to be made to at least "come out from behind the curtain" if not shout it's existance. By the time ovarian cancer is found it's near impossible to treat successfully. Is there a small enough scope that can be used to see the ovary and identify abnormalities? It's still a matter of when to use it. Without symptoms, a woman wouldn't want to opt for this penetration of her abdomen on the off chance she may - possibly - perchance have ovarian cancer. History may be the only precursor incentive, but at least that's something.

[websailor]

06:49 PM on 03/22/2012

It is a cancer that goes undetected 90% of the time. She is lucky it was found in time. GOD BLESS!

[kukboyce]

06:34 PM on 03/22/2012

I met Shannon Miller, and she is just so..... classy. I wish her all the best in her recovery. She is just a beautiful person. Many thoughts and prayers are with you, dear Shannon.