Marcia Cross is “grateful to be alive” to watch her daughters graduate after a battle with anal cancer.
The “Desperate Housewives” alum, 57, opened up last week about getting diagnosed about a year and a half ago, with the hopes that her story would inspire others to get educated and tested for human papillomavirus. And she’s continuing to use her platform to speak out on the issue.
“In spite of the optics, I care deeply about saving lives,” Cross recently told CNN in an email. “To that end, the important thing to do is to educate the public about HPV. It is so common that nearly every person who is sexually active will get it at some point in their lifetime. HPV can cause cervical and other cancers. … It can take years, even decades to develop.”
Cross revealed Wednesday that doctors believe her anal cancer and husband Tom Mahoney’s 2009 throat cancer came from the same type of HPV, which can be transferred through sexual intercourse or skin-to-skin contact.
A year and a half ago, Marcia Cross was diagnosed with anal cancer. This weekend, she watched her daughters graduate. (Photo: Jordan Strauss, Invision for Leica)
For Cross, the decision to discuss something so taboo was “difficult,” but the benefits of opening up outweighed the sometimes uncomfortable conversations.
“It is difficult to talk about but so important and we just need to push through,” she continued. As I sat at my twin daughters’ graduation yesterday, I was so grateful to be alive and well and thought that if I could give that gift to another person it would all be worth it.”
HPV vaccine prevents anal cancer, too: Desperate Housewives’ Marcia Cross reminds us
Fortunately, Cross and Mahoney are both in remission. They plan to have their 12-year-old daughters – Eden and Savannah – vaccinated for HPV in the coming weeks.
“My girls don’t know it, but they’re up for their first shot at the end of the school year,” Cross previously told “CBS This Morning.”
Contributing: Cydney Henderson
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