Shannen Doherty Gives Heartbreaking Health Update That Cancer Has Spread to Her Brain: “My Fear Is Obvious”

In a heartbreaking update on her health, Beverly Hills, 90210 star has Shannen Doherty revealed that her Stage 4 cancer has spread to her brain.

The 52-year-old actress shared the news to her Instagram followers on Tuesday (June 6) alongside a video showing tears in her eyes as she underwent her first round of radiation on Jan. 12 — just one week after her CT scan showed “mets” in her brain.

“My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life,” she captioned the post. “I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr. Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at Cedar Sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like.”

In the video, she wore a mask used for those receiving radiation on their brain. On Monday (June 5), she posted a clip of herself getting fitted for the mask earlier this year with the caption, “January 9, 2023.”

Since beginning treatment, the Heathers actress has appeared at the 2023 ’90s Con, where she joined the Charmed panel alongside the rest of her cast from the hit supernatural show. When asked about how she was doing, she said at the time, “I’m feeling great, thank you! … This crowd is amazing!” per People.

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, prompting her to document every step of her treatment on social media until going into remission in 2017. Two years later, the cancer returned, and in 2020, she announced that it had become Stage 4.

“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that — I’m stage four. So my cancer came back. And that’s why I’m here,” Doherty told Good Morning America at the time. “I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”

She added, “I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this? None of us do.'”

Despite her diagnosis, Doherty continued to work on movies like Fortress (2021), where she starred opposite Bruce Willis and Chad Michael Murray — as well as Hot Seat (2022), which also featured Mel Gibson.

She even joined the one-season reboot of BH90210 alongside the rest of her Beverly Hills, 90210 cast in 2019, where she played both herself and reprised her role as Brenda Walsh.

“The best example that I can continue to set for other people with cancer, and to the outside world who doesn’t have cancer, is to show them what a cancer patient looks like,” she told Variety in 2021. “We are employable.”