Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty reveals she has stage 4 cancer: 'Our life doesn't end the minute we get that diagnosis'

Shannen Doherty announced her cancer is back on Good Morning America. Photo / Getty Images

Shannen Doherty revealed Tuesday on Good Morning America that she has stage 4 cancer. The actress was first diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago and announced in 2017 that she was in remission.

"My cancer came back, and that's why I'm here," she told Good Morning America anchor Amy Robach. "It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. ... I definitely have days where I say, why me? And then I go, well, why not me? Who else, you know? Who else deserves this? None of us do."

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Doherty, who rose to fame playing Brenda Walsh on "Beverly Hills, 90210," appeared in the "BH90210" reboot that aired last August. She told Robach she kept her diagnosis private for about a year but decided to go public after realizing it would be revealed in court documents pertaining to her State Farm lawsuit. (After Doherty's Malibu property was damaged during the 2018 Woolsey Fire, she sued the insurance company over how it handled her $1.4 million claim.)

"I'd rather people hear it from me," Doherty said. "I don't want it to be twisted. I don't want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic. I want to control the narrative."

The actress has been open about her medical journey since her initial diagnosis. In November 2016, for instance, she posted a photo of herself sitting on a CT scanner and detailed the "full panic attack" she had while undergoing the test. In October 2018, more than a year after announcing she was in remission, she shared another photo of herself in a medical gown and encouraged her followers to get mammograms.

Doherty was aware of her cancer's return when Luke Perry, her longtime friend and 90210 co-star, died last March after suffering a stroke. It was "shocking," she said on Good Morning America, to receive her diagnosis and soon after experience the death of "somebody who was seemingly healthy."

She honoured Perry by appearing in a tribute episode of Riverdale, the CW's television adaptation of the Archie Comics on which he played Fred Andrews, the main character's kind-hearted father. In the episode, which aired in October, Doherty plays a stranger for whom Fred sacrifices his own life.

"The least I could do to honour him was do that show," she told Robach, later adding that she was also able to process Perry's death "in a way that was very positive and uplifting" by reminiscing with another "90210" co-star, Brian Austin Green. She credited Green with helping her get through "BH90210," as he was the only one working on the reboot who knew about her diagnosis.

Between her on-camera work and the State Farm lawsuit - "I'm taking a stand for all of us," she said - Doherty's ultimate goal is to "to be remembered for something bigger than just me."

"I thought, when I finally do come out (with my diagnosis), I will have worked 16 hours a day," she added. "People can look at that and say, oh my God, yeah, she can work. And other people with stage 4 can work, too. Our life doesn't end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do."