Olivia Munn shares she was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after ‘normal’ mammogram
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Olivia Munn has gone public with her breast cancer diagnosis.
On Wednesday, the actress shared a gallery of photos and video on her verified Instagram account, showing her in the hospital, with a caption that read, “I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I hope by sharing this it will help others find comfort, inspiration and support on their own journey.”
Munn also shared a statement on text slides in the post, which began, “In February of 2023, in an effort to be proactive about my health, I took a genetic test that checks for 90 different cancer genes.”
“I tested negative for all, including BRCA (the most well-known breast cancer gene). My sister Sara had just tested negative as well,” Munn wrote. “We called each other and high-fived over the phone. That same winter I also had a normal mammogram. Two months later I was diagnosed with breast cancer.”
The “X-Men” star, 43, went on to explain that she has undergone four surgeries in the past 10 months, including a double mastectomy performed 30 days after her biopsy.
There have also been plenty of days in bed and her learning “more about cancer, cancer treatment and hormones than I ever could have imagined.”
“Surprisingly I’ve only cried twice,” she wrote. “I guess I haven’t felt like there was time to cry.”
According to Munn, her Ob-Gyn detected her cancer by opting to calculate her “Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score” which she said “looked at factors like my age, familial breast cancer history, and the fact I had my first child after the age of 30.”
“Because of that score I went to get an MRI, which led to an ultrasound, which then led to a biopsy,” Munn wrote. “The biopsy showed I had Luminal B cancer in both breasts. Luminal B is an aggressive, fast moving cancer.”
According to Breast Cancer Foundation Susan G. Komen, “women with luminal B tumors tend to have fairly high survival rates.”
Munn counts herself as “lucky” given that “we caught it with enough time that I had options.”
“I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day,” she wrote in her statement. “Ask your doctor to calculate your Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score.”
Munn also thanked her friends and family for their support, including her partner comedian John Mulaney with whom she shares a toddler son, Malcolm.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
