Actress Cobie Smulders reveals cancer battle

Actress Cobie Smulders. Photo / AP

Actress Cobie Smulders has stunned fans by revealing she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 25 while working on hit the TV comedy How I Met Your Mother.

The Avengers star tells Women's Health magazine she was diagnosed in 2007, while she was in the midst of filming the third season of the hit US sitcom.

"I had tumours on both ovaries, and the cancer had spread into my lymph nodes and surrounding tissues," she said.

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Smulders, now 33, underwent multiple surgeries over two years to remove the cancerous tissue, leaving her with a third of an ovary.

Doctors warned her that she might not be able to conceive a child naturally - but she and comedian/actor husband Taran Killam welcomed daughter Shaelyn in 2009, and their second child, a son, was born earlier this year (15).

Although Smulders hasn't had another cancer scare since then, she's not yet ready to declare herself completely free from the disease.

"I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm cancer-free. Now that I'm five years out, I'm trying to think of it as a positive thing and what can I learn from it. And if I can create more awareness, I'll do it."

Smulders has been busy lately promoting the blockbuster film The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

• The Avengers: Age of Ultron is now screening in New Zealand cinemas.

- WENN