LOS ANGELES (AP) — Christina Applegate is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, but the disease was caught early and the actress is expected to fully recover, her publicist said.
The Emmy winner's cancer was detected through an MRI ordered by a doctor and is not life-threatening, publicist Ame Van Iden said in a statement Saturday.
Applegate is scheduled to appear on a one-hour television special, "Stand Up To Cancer," to be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 to raise funds for cancer research.
The 36-year-old actress has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the show "Samantha Who?", in which she plays a woman who wakes from a coma with no memory of who she is.
The show, which debuted last October, marked a return to series television for Applegate, who helped establish the Fox network in 1987 as ditzy teenager Kelly Bundy on "Married ... With Children." The raunchy comedy ran 11 seasons and has been airing in syndication since.
"I'm really grateful that acting is the job that was chosen for me," Applegate told The Associated Press in April. "I get really lost when I'm not working. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with myself. Thank God for dance class and the New York Times crossword puzzle and 'American Idol.' But acting is what I really have to do."
Applegate won an Emmy as outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in 2003 for her role as one of Jennifer Aniston's younger sisters in "Friends." She was nominated for a Tony in 2005 for the Broadway musical "Sweet Charity."
Applegate began acting in films and television as a child and has appeared in such shows as "Quincy," "Family Ties," "21 Jump Street," "Charles in Charge" and Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories."
Soon after "Married ... With Children," she starred in "Jesse," playing a single mother raising a young son. The show lasted two seasons.
Her films include "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead," "Wild Bill, "Wonderland" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
On the Net:
I couldn't believe it when I heard.But she's lucky, in that they caught it early.It's amazing to me how many young women(Christina Applegate's age and younger)are getting breast cancer(and other cancers).
As someone who is a cancer survivor(not breast cancer) ,I'm sympathetic to what she's going through.
So sad. The last thing I saw her in was Just Visiting, a B moive but it was pretty good. Maybe she'll get the chance to make some serious movies after this.
I don't know why but I always thought there was something sad about her.
Chief of Staff, 007's gone round the bend. Says someone's been trying to feed him a poisoned banana. Fellow's lost his nerve. Been in the hospital too long. Better call him home.
NEW YORK (AP) - Christina Applegate is taking the long view of her battle with breast cancer - the really long view. Speaking on ABC News'"Good Morning America" in her first interview since announcing her diagnosis earlier this month, the "Samantha Who?" star said she had a double mastectomy three weeks ago. She'll undergo reconstructive surgery over the next eight months.
"I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90, so there's that," she joked in the interview, which aired Tuesday. "I'll have the best boobs in the nursing home. I'll be the envy of all the ladies around the bridge table."
The 36-year-old actress elected to remove both breasts even though the disease was contained in one breast. She said she is now cancer-free.
Applegate called the operation a logical decision. Her mother battled breast cancer, and she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
"I just wanted to kind of be rid of it," she said. "So this was the choice I made and it was a tough one."
The experience has been an emotional roller coaster, she said.
"Sometimes, you know, I cry and sometimes I scream and I get really angry and I get really like, you know, into wallowing in self-pity sometimes," she said. "And I think that's - it's all part of healing, and anyone who's going through it out there, it's OK to cry. It's OK to fall on the ground and just scream if you want to."
The Emmy-nominated "Samantha Who?" star has kept her sense of humor intact.
"I've laughed so much in the last three weeks," she said. "I love living, and I really love my life, and I knew that from this moment on it was only going to be good that was going to be coming. Yeah, I'll face challenges, but you can't get any darker than where I've been. So knowing that in my soul gave me the strength to just say, 'I have to get out there and make this a positive.'"
Applegate's cancer was detected early through a doctor-ordered MRI. She said she's starting a program to help women at high risk for breast cancer to meet the costs of an MRI, which is not always covered by insurance.
Applegate is scheduled to appear on a one-hour TV special, "Stand Up to Cancer," to be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 to raise funds for cancer research.
She has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the ABC show "Samantha Who?", in which she plays a woman who wakes from a coma with no memory of who she is.
