Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty reveals ‘this is what cancer can look like’ in emotional clip

Shannen Doherty has opened up about her experience with cancer treatment. Photo / AP

Shannen Doherty has given her fans some more insight into the reality of her cancer treatment.

The Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed actor shared an Instagram clip from January during which she was “trying to be brave” as doctors prepared to remove a tumour from her head, reports Fox News.

“I had a tumour in my head they wanted to remove and also biopsy. I am clearly trying to be brave but I am petrified,” she wrote in the caption.

Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs starred together in Charmed. Photo / Getty Images

“The fear was overwhelming to me. Scared of all possible bad outcomes, worried about leaving my mom and how that would impact her. Worried that I would come out of surgery not me anymore. This is what cancer can look like.”

The video shows the 52-year-old star asking the doctors questions as she wears a hospital gown and hair net in bed.

It comes after she shared another clip earlier this month of herself getting ready for a CT scan, simply captioned: “January 9, 2023.”

The next day, she shared a video of herself in tears as she was fitted with a mask before radiation treatment, writing in the caption that her cancer had spread.

“January 12, 2023. On January 5, my CT scan showed Mets [metastases] in my brain. Yesterday’s video was showing the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation to your brain,” Doherty explained.

“January 12, the first round of radiation took place. My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life,” she continued.

“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.”

The actress was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, going through eight rounds of chemotherapy and radiation as well as a mastectomy. She went into remission in 2017.

But in 2018, Doherty shared the news that her tumour markers were “elevated”, and by 2020 her cancer had spread and had reached stage 4.

She told Good Morning America at the time: “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.

“I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”