Celebrity cancer survivors and advocates

Celebrity breast cancer survivors bring increased awareness to the illness and effectively encourage women across America to pursue early screening.

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TV personality Guiliana Rancic recently revealed that she is battling breast cancer, which was discovered when she was undergoing fertility treatment. “Now I truly believe God was looking out for me,” she told Ann Curry on the “Today” show. “Had I gotten pregnant, a few years down the line I could have gotten sicker. So right now I’m okay. So the baby saved my life.”

Frazer Harrison / GETTY IMAGES

Fashion designer Betsey Johnson has been cancer-free for 11 years now. Each year, she launches a new product with breast cancer awareness insignia to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund and the center where Johnson was treated, the Weill Cornell Breast Center of the Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS

Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow battled breast cancer in 2006, but her cancer was detected early. After surgery and radiation, she advocates for yearly mammograms.

Cliff Owen / AP

”Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts fought breast cancer in 2007. She continued to appear on TV even as she was undergoing chemotherapy.

Peter Kramer / AP

Correction: An earlier version of this photo caption incorrectly stated that the film “1 a Minute” was “produced for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.” The film was produced by UniGlobe Entertainment. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation is one of the film’s charity partners. | Rocker Melissa Etheridge discovered her breast cancer in 2004. She’s now an advocate for breast cancer research and lent her name to the film “1 a Minute,” a docudrama created “to raise funds for a cure, promote awareness and prevention, as well as, support survivors of women’s cancers,” according to the movie’s web site.

Donald Traill / AP

Australian singer Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. Minogue received an honorary doctorate this year from Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, southern England, for her work raising awareness of breast cancer.

BENOIT TESSIER / REUTERS

Actress Edie Falco fought stage I breast cancer in 2003 while working on “The Sopranos.”

Peter Kramer / AP

Actress Suzanne Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. She wrote a book about her exprience called “Knockout: Interviews With Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer.”

Peter Kramer / AP

Actress Christina Applegate had a double mastectomy after her cancer diagnosis at age 36.

Dan Steinberg / AP

Broadcast journalist Hoda Kotb fought breast cancer in 2007 and underwent mastectomy surgery. “I do think cancer gave me the gift of … being fearless. Cancer gave me the headline, you know, you can’t scare me. That takeaway was the biggest thing I’ve ever gotten,” she said.

Business Wire / BUSINESS WIRE

Cynthia Nixon became a breast cancer advocate after she beat the disease in 2008. She discovered the cancer while she was starring in the off-Broadway play “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”

Craig Blankenhorn / CRAIG BLANKENHORN

French film legend and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot refused treatment for her breast cancer when it was first diagnosed.

JACQUES BRINON / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988. She missed only two weeks of work for her treatment.

Brendan Smialowski / GETTY IMAGES

Singer Carly Simon fought breast cancer at age 53. "There's a feeling that if this had been a man's disease, it would have been licked already," Simon once said.

Jim Cooper / AP

Journalist Cokie Roberts underwent successful breast cancer treatment in 2002.

SUSAN BIDDLE / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Former “Charlie’s Angels” star Jaclyn Smith underwent a lumpectomy and radiation for breast cancer in 2003.

Spencer Weiner / AP

Actress Diahann Carroll became a breast cancer activist, inviting a camera crew into her treatment room to raise awareness of the illness.

Frank Micelotta / GETTY IMAGES

Ice skater Dorothy Hamill designed a breast cancer awareness jewelry line after her successful treatment for the disease in 2006.

Stephen Shugerman / GETTY IMAGES

Former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan discovered her cancer through a mammogram in 1987. She had a mastectomy, and her influence encouraged more women to have mammograms.

JASON REED / REUTERS

Gloria Steinem discovered a lump in her breast in 1987. “The cancer served a real purpose, making me a little bit more conscious of time,” she said.

Judi Bottoni / AP

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