Jane Fonda starts receiving chemo for 'treatable' cancer

Actress Jane Fonda attends the 2021 Women in Film (WIF) Honors celebrating "Trailblazers of the New Normal" at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, U.S., Oct.6, 2021. (AFP File Photo)

by Agence France-Presse - AFP

Sep 03, 2022 10:04 am

Oscar-winning U.S. actress and long-time activist Jane Fonda announced Friday that she has "treatable" cancer, and has begun chemotherapy.

The 84-year-old prominent supporter of the Democratic Party vowed to fight the "very treatable" illness.

"I've been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and have started chemo treatments," she wrote on her verified Instagram account.

"This is a very treatable cancer. 80% of people survive, so I feel very lucky.

"I'm also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments," she added.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (2nd L) and his wife Raisa (L), Jane Fonda (2nd R) and Ted Turner pose during a reception at the State of the World Forum, San Francisco, U.S., Sept. 27, 1995. (AP Photo)

Fonda, an avowed environmentalist and social campaigner, said her position was more fortunate than that of many others in her situation.

"Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don't have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right," she lamented.

Fonda first appeared on screen in 1960, and scored Academy Awards for "Klute" in 1971 and "Coming Home" in 1978.

A further five nominations for Best Actress followed.

She continues to work, and appears as the voice of an elegant dragon who is the CEO of a luck-making operation in the Apple TV+ animation "Luck."

She also stars in the popular, long-running Netflix hit "Grace and Frankie."

Last Update: September 03, 2022 11:10

Edited By: Buse Keskin