Chris Evert
The ex-tennis player is cancer-free after chemotherapy
Chris Evert
© Jason Koerner/Getty Images
Former tennis player Chris Evert has beaten cancer. The 68-year-old underwent chemotherapy, had her uterus and both breasts removed and is now cancer-free, as she says herself.
In January 2022, Chris Evert, 68, revealed that she had ovarian cancer. “I wanted to share my diagnosis of stage 1 ovarian cancer to help others,” the former USA tennis player, who was ranked number one in the world for 260 weeks, shared the shocking news via Twitter. However, she is very fortunate that the disease was caught early, so she expects positive results from her chemotherapy.
Now Chris Evert was able to happily announce that the therapy actually worked well and that she is now cancer-free. There is even a 90 percent chance that ovarian cancer will never come back, she tells ESPN.
Chris Evert lost her sister to ovarian cancer
Chris Evert already lost her sister Jeanne to the same disease in 2020. “The last two years of her life were brutal,” she says. Therefore, Chris now wants to educate about cancer prevention and early detection. “My sister’s trip saved my life. I hope by sharing mine I may be able to save someone else’s.”
Chris Evert was very lucky that treatment could be initiated at an early stage. “My doctor said that if it had gone undetected, in four months I would probably have been in stage 3 like Jeanne, with very few options. Instead, I was diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer and immediately started six rounds of chemotherapy.”
The tennis star is now cancer-free
Both Chris and her sister suffered from hereditary cancer. According to the tennis star, the BRCA mutation in his body was associated with a 75 percent risk of developing breast cancer.
Therefore, Chris decided to have both a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) and a double mastectomy (removal of breast tissue and mammary gland). The 68-year-old can now breathe a sigh of relief, because the risk of developing breast cancer has also been reduced by 90 percent.
Sources used: espn.co.uk, twitter.com