Seasoned CNN anchor Christian Amanpour has revealed that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer for the third time.
Amanpour, 67, announced her diagnosis on the “Changing the Ovarian Cancer Story” podcast on Thursday, but stressed that she is “treating herself very well.”
“Obviously they removed all the relevant organs, but it came back a few times in the lymph node,” she told host Hannah Vaughan Jones.
Oncologist Dr. Angela George, who is treating Amanpour, explained that she has a rare type of ovarian cancer that accounts for less than 10 percent of cases.
“Most women, by the time they’re diagnosed, they may have had cancer for three or four years before it’s actually diagnosed,” she said on the show.
George added that ovarian cancer does not have many “specific symptoms” and is often “misdiagnosed” for a very long time.
“I was actually lucky because there were symptoms,” Amanpour said.
“Often there are no symptoms, so many women don’t know, so I think I was lucky,” she added.
The journalist is currently undergoing immunotherapy, which she said has no side effects and is “the opposite of exhausting.”
Amanpour has routine checkups every three months, which is why her cancer was detected so quickly the second and third time.
She described the routine follow-up as “a great insurance policy” and expressed gratitude to her family, friends and colleagues for their support.
“I never asked for help before … and when I did, I got it,” she said.
“It really kept me going because it’s not just a disease, it’s a state of mind,” Amanpour noted.
“To have all these people who literally every day asked me how I’m doing, how they can help … the community is actually vital and I’m just very lucky to have that,” she added.
Amanpour was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May 2021, after a doctor found a grapefruit-sized cyst on her right ovary.
After further testing, she was diagnosed with stage 2 ovarian cancer. She underwent surgery, followed by 18 weeks of chemotherapy.
A cancer that is difficult to diagnose
Ovarian cancer is often detected at stage 3 or 4, leaving many women with hopeless choices and low survival rates. Amanpour was one of the few whose cancer was detected early.
Unlike breast cancer, ovarian cancer has no screening and can often be mistaken for minor health problems, such as urinary tract infections, bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, eating problems, menstrual pain, or pain during sex.
Amanpour has since urged women to be proactive about their health and take steps to detect ovarian cancer early.
She encouraged women to “check themselves regularly, to listen to their bodies and to ensure that their legitimate medical concerns are not dismissed or downplayed.”
(Vijesti.ba)
