Shannen Doherty says cancer has spread to her bones but she's 'not done with living'

The actress was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. Photo: TNS

Shannen Doherty is sharing more bad news about her eight-year cancer battle: The disease has now spread to her bones.

Despite the bleak development, the Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed star said she still has a lot more living to do.

"I don't want to die," the People cover star said in last week's issue, telling the mag that she's hoping to inspire others by focusing on her future.

"I'm not done with living. I'm not done with loving. I'm not done with creating. I'm not done with hopefully changing things for the better," the 52-year-old '90s icon said. "I'm just not – I'm not done."

The Heathers star said she thinks of the disease as "the Pac-Man video game where they start to go into your bones," but noted that she's doing much better on a new treatment regimen. She also had a growth removed from her brain earlier this year. Now, she's hoping to get into clinical trials to develop new treatments.

"People just assume that it means you can't walk, you can't eat, you can't work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age – 'You're done, you're retired,' and we're not," she said of being a cancer patient. "We're vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward."

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, a public disclosure made in a lawsuit against her former manager. She had a mastectomy, underwent chemotherapy and radiation and declared herself in remission in 2017. By February 2020, however, Doherty said that the disease had returned and metastasized, spreading beyond her breasts and lymph nodes into her spine.

Later that year, she said that she expected to be in treatment for the rest of her life. In June, she shared that the cancer had spread to her brain, requiring surgery and more radiation treatment.

While Doherty has chronicled her harrowing journey on social media and in the press, the TV star is making good on her declaration that she's "not done creating": She plans to discuss her illness in a new memoir-style podcast, Let's Be Clear With Shannen Doherty, that premieres Dec 6 on iHeartRadio.

On Instagram, Doherty said on Nov 29 that the programme will touch on her career highlights, friendships, divorce and health regimens and will include "a series of brutally honest conversations with some very special and influential people" in her life.

"She will share her own personal stories, how she manages the lows all while celebrating the highs, and her hopes and dreams for the future," according to iHeartRadio's description of the show. "As Shannen says, it doesn't matter how many times you fall, it's about how you get back up. So, LET'S BE CLEAR... this is the truth and nothing but." – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service