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American actor Shannen Doherty, best known for her role as high school student Brenda Walsh on hit 1990s television drama Beverly Hills, 90210, has died after years of living with cancer, People reports.
She was just 53.
"It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease," Doherty's publicist Leslie Sloane told the publication.
Doherty had been public about her battle with breast cancer, first disclosing in 2015 that she was undergoing treatment for the disease. It became public as part of a lawsuit, filed in the middle of that year, in which she alleged that her management had failed to keep her health insurance up to date.
The actress claimed she wasn't able to see her doctor for regular check-ups while she was uninsured, and it wasn't until she was able to re-enroll with the Screen Actor's Guild in 2015 that she could seek treatment, by which stage her breast cancer had already progressed.
"Had she been insured and able to visit her doctor, the cancer could potentially have been stopped, thus obviating the need for the future treatment (including mastectomy and chemotherapy) that Plaintiff will likely have to suffer through now," the lawsuit read.
"There was a lump, and I had a mammogram and then a biopsy," she told Health Magazine in February 2019. "When I got the results, I was in the car with my mum and I just knew. The longer I sat, the more it started sinking in. Then I started crying. I called my husband and told him. And from there, I just put together a team."
After two years of treatment, Doherty was in remission. However, in February 2020, the cancer had returned, and this time, it had progressed to stage 4.
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