'It's Scary': Shannen Doherty Was S...

Shannen Doherty was at the start of another round of chemotherapy in the weeks before her death

Published Time: 14.07.2024 - 19:31:04 Modified Time: 14.07.2024 - 19:31:04

Shannen Doherty was at the start of another round of chemotherapy in the weeks before her death.

The actress died on Saturday, July 13 after a years-long battle with cancer, PEOPLE confirmed on July 14. Her longtime publicist, Leslie Sloan, told PEOPLE she was "surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie." She was 53.

In one Doherty's last podcast episodes, she shared that she was due to "start chemo probably a couple days after" the June 24 episode of Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty aired.

"I go in for my first run of chemo, and to just be walking into the unknown, I just feel like my life has been unknown for over a year now between divorce and cancer," she admitted.

The Charmed star was battling stage 4 breast cancer, which had spread to her bones, she told PEOPLE last year.

"It becomes very real in an incredibly different way because I have no idea how long I'm gonna be on the chemo for," she said on her podcast. "I have no idea if it's gonna be, you know, three months or if it's gonna be six months or if we're gonna you know, if after three months, it's not working, if we're gonna change again."

"That's not something that I can predict. It's not something my doctors can predict. And it's scary," she admitted.

" -

'Fly So High': Viola Davis, Kati,...

;At the same time, I have to say, there is some positivity there and the positive is that because my molecular structure of my cancer cells changed recently, it means there are a lot more protocols for me to try," she said.

The news made Doherty feel "hopeful" for the "first time" in a "couple" months "because there are so many protocols now."

"Before I was hopeful but I was still getting prepared," she said.

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and went into remission in 2017. The cancer returned in 2019, and she revealed she had been diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 cancer in 2020.

In June 2023, the Beverly Hills 90210 alum shared on Instagram that the cancer had spread to her brain and she'd undergone surgery several months prior to remove a brain tumor.

She told PEOPLE the operation was "one of the scariest things I've ever been through in my entire life."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In her statement confirming the news, Doherty's publicist said that her family "asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace."