Olivia Munn’s mother is now battling breast cancer, a year after the 45-year-old star revealed her own cancer diagnosis.
“My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she began in an Instagram post on Wednesday (July 9).
“You may know that when I talk about my own battle with cancer, I bring up the lifetime risk assessment test that saved my life. I never would have predicted it would save my mother’s life, too. ❤️”
Read on to find out more…
After learning she had breast cancer in 2023, Olivia urged her mother to take the Tyr-Cuzick breast cancer risk assessment. The free tool estimates a woman’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer in the next 10 years and in her lifetime, Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi explained, via People . A lifetime risk score of 20% or higher suggests high risk, and additional diagnostic screening may be necessary.
Her mother scored 26.2% despite having a clear mammogram, so Olivia insisted on having an MRI.
“Soon after, my mother was diagnosed with stage 1 HER2 breast cancer. She completed 12 rounds of chemotherapy and will continue monthly Herceptin transfusions until this fall,” she wrote.
“From my mom being there after my double mastectomy to me being there behind her. From me having to find an oncologist, to my mom and I sharing one. I can tell you this: Going through cancer is really hard. But there’s something about watching a loved one go through it that’s even more heartbreaking.”
“My mom’s husband, Sam , and I learned everything we could about HER2, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, cold caps… I spent many nights caring for my mom when the chemo became too much, wishing I could fight for her, even if just for a day to give her a little break,” she continued.
“It’s no small thing to realize that you can’t do this for them. To anyone out there who is caring for someone or has made it their profession to do so, thank you. These gifts can feel almost impossible without you.”
Olivia emphasized that the breast cancer risk assessment test “saved my life and now my mothers’.”
“We are taught about our periods, annual Pap smears, and mammograms at age 40. And now we need all gynecologists to incorporate lifetime risk into their care plan,” she wrote.
“All of these things are important, you can’t leave one out. My mom wanted me to tell you that she hopes sharing your story will help save someone’s life.”
“I want to say how proud I am of my mom,” he added. “She handled all of this with bravery and humor while still driving us crazy (just say after her double mastectomy, she tried to do laundry and make dinner—she’s crazy.)”
Find out what Olivia Munn recently said about her own treatment.
