Celebrity News
‘Facts of Life’ Alum Mindy Cohn Bravely Reveals Cancer Recurrence: ‘Ready For My Next Adventure’
Mindy Cohn breast cancer returns after years in remission. Doctors weigh in on her prognosis and what recurrence means for the beloved TV star.
Beloved TV star Mindy Cohn got a grim dose of The Facts of Life when she learned the cancer she thought she had beaten nearly a decade ago has returned, and doctors told the National Enquirer she has a tough fight ahead of her.
“Recurrence of cancer is indeed a dread diagnosis,” says New York–based internist Dr. Stuart Fischer.
“As I have been taught, ‘You are never cured of cancer, you are only in remission,'” adds Fischer, who hasn’t treated Mindy.
The Palm Royale star took to Instagram April 19 to deliver the sobering news to the public, saying, “Have been off social media for awhile ‘cuz I had to go kick cancer’s ass,” Cohn wrote in a caption of a photo of her lying in a hospital bed.
The former child star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and in a 2017 interview, she confessed to People, “I’ve always been an optimist, but the cancer metastasized. It kept spreading and coming back. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then it would. And then I’d wait for another shoe to drop, and it would. I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn’t control any of this. I couldn’t fix it.”
In the same interview, she said she left Hollywood to focus on her fight and was later told she was “cancer-free,” returned to acting and was “feeling great.”
Mindy did not reveal when she learned the cancer had returned or in what form, but noted oncologist Dr. Jerome Spunberg says the recurrence is not unusual but could be “very concerning.”
“If it’s a local recurrence — or contained to the breast area — she could get radiated and recover, but if it has spread to other organs, it could be a very serious problem,” explains Spunberg, who also doesn’t count the actress as a patient.
Fischer says cancer cells often become “immune” to treatment and can return with a vengeance.
“Mutating cancer cells can become resistant to chemotherapy,” he says. “Often the oncologist has to resort to different or stronger treatments with varying degrees of success.
“In some cases, you have to start from scratch with a whole new approach. The real question is whether the cancer has spread — which would be a big problem for her.”
In the meantime, 59-year-old Mindy declared on Instagram that she’s ready for the fight, saying, she’ll be “recouping for another couple of weeks and then ready for my next adventure. Onwards! F**K Cancer!”
