Olivia Newton-John says she is winning her third battle with breast cancer, thanks to medicinal cannabis.
The 71-year-old told how the herbal treatment has helped contain the stage four disease, which returned three years ago in her lower back.
Olivia looked fit and healthy as she appeared on the red carpet with Grease co-star John Travolta, 65, at the G’day USA
gala in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
The actress and singer said: “My tumours are receding or they’re going away or they’re staying the same. On a stage four metastatic breast cancer that’s pretty amazing. I don’t see it as a battle. I am winning.”
Olivia is pushing for the wider use of cannabis as a medicine. She added: “For me the proof is in the pudding and I’m the pudding.
“If I hadn’t had the experience I’m having with cannabis I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.”
The mum-of-one’s Cancer & Wellness Centre in her native Australia is launching trials of cannabis as a medicine. She has also lobbied the government there to approve its use.
She said in October: “I hope to be able to offer that treatment to everyone.” Olivia first beat cancer in 1992 then again in 2013.
The cannabis she uses is grown by husband John Easterling at their Santa Barbara home in California. She claimed doctors were supportive of the treatment.
Olivia added: “It’s not a drug. It’s a herb and a plant.”
Niece Tottie Goldsmith joined her and John at the G’day USA gala, which promotes links between America and Australia.
Olivia, made a dame last year, is due to perform with singer John Farnham at the Fire Fight Australia bushfire charity concert in Sydney on February 16.
It will be her first time on stage since cancelling all tour plans after her most recent illness.
