Shannen Doherty has been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer.
The Charmed and 90210 star revealed the diagnosis on Good Morning America on Tuesday morning.
“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I have stage four [cancer],” she told host Amy Robach.
“My cancer came back and... that’s why I’m here.”
Doherty kept the diagnosis private for a year. She said she chose to discuss it now because the condition will soon be made public in court documents.
“I don’t think that I’ve processed it,” she added of the diagnosis. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”
Doherty was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and announced that the illness was in remission in April 2017.
She later learned that it had returned and she didn’t disclose it immediately, instead joining the 90210 reboot BH90210.
The series was a chance for her to pay tribute to her former co-star Luke Perry, who died of a stroke in March last year.
Doherty also viewed the TV show as a way to show others that it’s sometimes possible to keep working even after a stage four cancer diagnosis.
“People can look at that say, ‘Oh my God, she can work, and other people with stage four can work too,’”’ she said.
“Our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do.”
