13 Celebrities Who Were Diagnosed With Cancer Before They Turned 40

Cancer does not exclude anybody, and many celebrities have been diagnosed with this deadly disease before the age of 40. Fortunately, it appears that an increasing number of people are choosing to be open about their diagnosis and treatment in order to promote cancer awareness to the world and their surrounding environment. While celebrities frequently strive to keep their personal lives hidden from the public glare, several have opted to publicize cancer diagnoses in order to aid others.
Which celebrities were diagnosed with cancer at an early age? Cancer struck TV stars Michael C. Hall and Christina Applegate in their 30s, while Tom Green and Sofia Vergara were diagnosed in their 20s. Though some of these celebrities are cancer-free now, others were not so fortunate, leaving behind significant work. Continue reading to learn about these renowned people who were diagnosed with cancer when they were young and how they are doing now.

#1 Kylie Minogue

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Kylie Minogue, an Australian music icon, was just 36 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She reminisced on her 2005 diagnosis in a People interview in 2020. "It's as though the earth has shifted off its axis. You view things differently "She told the publication.
The actress went into remission the next year after undergoing a lumpectomy and chemotherapy to treat her cancer. "You really don't know what anyone is going through," she told People. "You really don't know what anyone is going through," she said.

#2 Michael C. Hall

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Michael C. Hall, star of the crime thriller Dexter, was in the midst of filming the fourth season when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's cancer. He was 38 when he was diagnosed, one year younger than his father was when he died. "I guess I've been fascinated with the age of 39 since I was 11 when my father died: will I survive that long? How would that feel? It was frightening to learn that I had Hodgkin's lymphoma, but I was also amused as if to say, 'Wow. Huh. 'How intriguing,'" he told The New York Times in 2010.
Hall kept his diagnosis a secret for the length of the season, but he eventually revealed it. "I'm pleased I did," he told The Guardian in 2014, "because I had no idea how much that would be a source of inspiration or courage to others. It is valuable to witness someone you know and spend time watching go through the treatment process effectively."

#3 Sofia Vergara

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Sofia Vergara was the highest-paid female performer on television when playing Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the ABC comedy Modern Family. However, during a routine examination in 2001, Vergara's doctor made a stunning discovery: a bump in her neck that turned out to be a malignant thyroid tumor.
"When you're young and you hear that word, 'cancer,' your mind goes to so many places," Vergara said in 2021 to NBC News. "But I tried not to panic and decided to educate myself. I studied every book I could get my hands on and learned everything I could about it." The actress chose a treatment plan that comprised thyroid gland removal surgery, radiation, and daily thyroid hormone therapy.
In 2011, Vergara told Health, "I feel very lucky. In a lot of women, the cancer isn't found until around menopause, and by then it's too late."

#4 Christina Applegate

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Christina Applegate, star of Dead to Me, has been in the public spotlight since she was a teen, so it came as a surprise to fans when she revealed that she was battling breast cancer at the age of 36.
Following her diagnosis, the actress underwent genetic testing, which confirmed she had a BRCA gene mutation. "If you're BRCA positive, it's highly possible you'll develop cancer in your lifetime," she said on Today in 2017. With this information, Applegate opted to have a double mastectomy, as well as have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

#5 Barry Watson

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Barry Watson played the eldest son and brother Matt Camden in the hit WB series 7th Heaven. But, at the age of 28, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Watson left the show to seek treatment and returned for the show's 150th episode with his cancer undetectable.
Watson believes that two decades after his diagnosis, the experience remains both a distant memory and a constant companion. "It's still a significant part of my life because I think about it all the time, but time has gone to the point where I wonder, 'Did it really happen?' Was it really necessary for me to go through all of that?' And now that I have this entire other life with my wife and kids that they weren't even a part of before, it feels like a lifetime ago "In 2021, he told ABC News.

#6 Edie Falco

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Edie Falco, star of The Sopranos, was 40 years old when she learned she had breast cancer. The Emmy winner claims her diagnosis was especially "surreal" because she was supposed to be back on set just hours after that fatal appointment.
Falco kept her diagnosis and treatment quiet, eventually becoming public with her disease five months after going into remission. In an interview with Parade in 2009, the Nurse Jackie star stated that she believes she survived in part because she was in her best health prior to the diagnosis. "I had been taking care of myself for almost 15 years before being sick—not drinking, not smoking, eating healthily—so I did really well. They administered extremely potent chemo medicines to me. I was really fortunate that two of the most important events in my life—my sobriety and breast cancer—occurred in the sequence they did."

#7 Tom Green

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At the age of 28, MTV personality Tom Green was one of the first young celebrities to go public with his testicular cancer struggle.
In 2000, he adapted his true-life medical drama into The Tom Green Cancer Special, a sketch-comedy-meets-documentary show. "I was feeling really sorry for myself and sitting around with [co-star] Glenn Humplik and [head writer] Derek Harvie, and we decided it might be a way of getting off the depressing tip," Green stated to Entertainment Weekly.
While he set out to create a "weird TV show," the comedian soon recognized it may have an impact on its audience. "People started approaching us with gloomy and tearful, appreciative, handshaking gestures. And we began to realize that what we were doing might potentially be beneficial "He told the publication.

#8 Vanessa Bayer

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Vanessa Bayer, a Saturday Night Live cast member, was just 15 years old when she was diagnosed with leukemia. She eventually went into remission after taking chemotherapy as she reached her final year of high school. "I think having cancer has definitely shaped my comedy because I found so many ways and reasons to laugh while I was sick, and it really gave me a stronger comedic point of view," she told Coping with Cancer Magazine in 2019. "It's so therapeutic to laugh… and, besides, anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in a hospital knows there's a lot to laugh at."
Her most recent piece, I Love That for You, is inspired by her experiences with childhood cancer. "This character had childhood leukemia and I had childhood leukemia," Bayer told Entertainment Tonight. "I would sort of use the fact that I was sick to get special treatment and I would… capitalize on the perks of having cancer," she explained, adding, "I thought it would be fun to do something where I explored that element about it."

#9 Tig Notaro

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Tig Notaro, a standup comedian and actor, ascended the stage at the comedy club Largo in Los Angeles at the age of 40. "Hello, good evening. I'm a cancer patient. How are you doing? "To the sound of scattered and awkward laughs, she began. "Guys relax, everything's fine," she said dryly.
The set, which was so well-received that it got a Grammy nomination, recounted the young comedian's stage 2 breast cancer diagnosis, which would necessitate a bilateral mastectomy and hormone therapy.
She spoke to NPR in 2016 about her decision to reveal her diagnosis on stage just one week after receiving it. "Looking back, I think I was definitely asking for help on some level, you know? I was shocked by how many people were moved and lifted by the performance, which was such a relief after putting myself out there in such a vulnerable way."

#10 Ewan McGregor

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Ewan McGregor, the hero of Trainspotting, had a little skin cancer beneath his right eye examined by a doctor when he was 37 years old. "I went to see a specialist who thought they were better to be removed, and indeed he was correct," he told Cosmopolitan at the time.The star from Moulin Rouge was unfazed by the incident. He stated that, despite the fact that the mole was malignant, he felt it was "not that big of a deal."

#11 Cynthia Nixon

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Cynthia Nixon, the star of Sex and the City, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40 in 2002. The celebrity was unsurprised by the news because her mother had survived the same disease. "I used to think, 'I'm probably going to develop breast cancer.' There is a very good likelihood, "Nixon stated to ABC News in 2008.
While the actor acknowledges that she was originally "scared" to learn of her ailment, she is positive given how early it was discovered. "I was very cognizant of if it's going to happen, this is the best way for it to happen—that it's found so early and we can just get right on it."

#12 Tarek El Moussa

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Tarek El Moussa, star of the smash HGTV shows Flip or Flop and Flipping 101, beat cancer twice before the age of 40. After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer after a show viewer noticed a suspicious growth on his neck, he later learned that he had also developed testicular cancer.
"My advice to others is this: If you feel something is wrong, talk to as many medical professionals as you can," he told Coping with Cancer Magazine in 2016. "It is preferable to have advice from five doctors rather than one who may make a mistake. Finally, you are familiar with your own body. Trust your instincts, "He insisted.

#13 Giuliana Rancic

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Giuliana Rancic, 36, of E! News, made a surprising statement in 2011: she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Despite being a "nervous wreck" about making her cancer struggle public, Rancic felt obligated to share her story in order to encourage others to be examined. "I have so many young female viewers who watch me and I want to help them," Rancic told E! News (via People). "I have an amazing platform to really help people so that's why it was really important for me to share this story."
"Make that appointment with your doctor, make sure you're going to your yearly appointment, figure out how to give yourself a self-exam." the TV host advises her viewers. "I think we've done such a good job of raising awareness for breast cancer," she continues, "but then you have to take that awareness and turn it into action."