Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John has revealed she has again been diagnosed with breast cancer and will postpone a number of planned tour dates as she embarks on treatment.
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A statement posted to her official Facebook page said the star of Grease and Xanadu was reluctantly cancelling some upcoming performances in the US and Canada after receiving the diagnosis.
"The back pain that initially caused her to postpone the first half of her concert tour, has turned out to be breast cancer that has metastasised to the sacrum," the post stated.
The statement said the singer, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, would undergo treatment that included photon radiation therapy, as well as "natural wellness therapies".
"I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia," she was quoted as saying.
Newton-John, 68, became an ardent supporter of breast cancer awareness and research after her initial battle with the disease. She underwent a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction at the time.
The centre opened in 2012.
Experts who worked at the singer's institute have spoken out about recurring cancers after remission.
"Late relapses from breast cancer can occur, especially for women with 'hormone receptor-positive' breast cancer," the medical director of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and of leader of cancer services at Austin Health, Professor Jonathan Cebon, said.
"These relapses can occur sometimes even decades after initial treatment for early breast cancer.
"This unpredictability of breast cancer, and its ability to return after many years, is an area of active research at the institute through our Translational Breast Cancer Program."
The leader of research into hormone receptor-positive cancer, Belinda Yeo, who also treats cancer patients at the ONJ Centre, said there were many treatments, including radiotherapy and various types of hormone therapy that could be effective in treating Newton-John's relapse.
"Newer targeted therapies are providing significant improvements alongside standard therapies," Dr Yeo said.
"The ONJ Centre has several clinical trials investigating these novel targeted therapies for patients with metastatic breast cancer."
Fairfax Media
