LOS ANGELES – American actress Shannen Doherty’s battle with cancer is ongoing, but she wants to tell everyone she is not helpless.

The 52-year-old revealed on Nov 29 in a candid interview with American publication People that her Stage 4 breast cancer cells had spread to her bones.

“I think of it like the Pac-Man video game where they start going into your bones,” she said. “But we’re on a really good regimen now and it’s working well for me.”

The actress, known for her roles on popular television shows Charmed (1998 to 2006) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990 to 2000), was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and underwent a mastectomy.

She went into remission in 2017, but announced in 2020 that she had terminal breast cancer.

In June 2023, she revealed in an emotional video on Instagram that the cancer had spread to her brain.

She had the tumour surgically removed and underwent radiation.

Doherty told People she had trouble with her right hand after the surgery, and was unable to hold a glass or fork for three or four months.

She worked hard to regain her motor skills, saying: “It takes perseverance, a lot of dedication and faith to get through certain things. I’m not a quitter.

“People don’t know a lot about cancer. They assume it means you can’t walk, you can’t eat, you can’t work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age, and we’re not.”

Doherty, who has always been candid about her fight with cancer, said cancer patients have a “different outlook on life”.

“We’re just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward,” she said, adding that she continues to undergo treatment and seeks clinical trials to join.

She added: “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better.”