Shannen Doherty dead at 53 after years-long battle with breast cancer — read heartbreaking statement

Shannen Doherty , beloved star of Charmed and Beverly Hills, 90120 , has died. She was 53.

The actress had been suffering from a long battle with breast cancer ; she was first diagnosed in 2015, and though she later went into remission, the cancer eventually returned and spread in 2020.

In a statement to People , her longtime publicist Leslie Sloane shared: "It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease."

The statement continued: "The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace."

Shannen, since her first diagnosis in 2015 and later when the cancer returned, was candid about the arduous battle, and documented on social media her experience undergoing treatment.

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After the 2015 diagnosis, in 2016, she shared that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, and she had to undergo eight rounds of chemotherapy and radiation as a result.

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Though she went into remission in 2017, just one year later, she told the Associated Press that her tumor markers had become "elevated." Two years later in 2020, she announced during an appearance on Good Morning America that her cancer had returned as stage four breast cancer, meaning it had spread to other parts of her body beyond the original source of the tumor.

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"I don't think that I've processed it. It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways," she said at the time.

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Though she initially kept details of her cancer battle largely private, in June of last year, she shared an update, posting videos to her Instagram of her undergoing radiation therapy in January.

"On January 5th, my CT scan showed mets in my brain," she wrote then, adding: "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 [...] 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."

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Shannen was born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was only 11 years old when she made her on-screen debut on TV series such as Voyagers! and Father Murphy in the early 1980s, before taking on the recurring role of Jenny Wilder on Little House on the Prairie.

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Following her first major movie appearance on cult-classic Heathers , she became a household name over her role as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90120 , which was created by her co-star Tori Spelling's father Aaron Spelling , and also starred Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green , and the late Luke Perry, who died in 2019 aged 52 after a stroke.

Shannen was also best known for her role as Prue Halliwell on Charmed , in which she starred alongside Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano , and Rose McGowan .