Celebs who successfully fought cancer and recovered

Fans of Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, the two legendary stars of the Indian cinema, were left heartbroken after the news of their demise. Both actors passed away within a span of 24 hours. Apart from their exceptional performances, they also have another thing in common - their long battle with cancer.

Today when the entire nation is mourning the great loss, we cannot help but wonder how the number of people diagnosed with this fatal disease has grown manifold in the past few decades. The burden of cancer on society is due to several reasons, including our sedentary lifestyle, eating habits, pollution, age and others. But those who dread the C word, needs to know that people do recover from cancer and these celebrities are living example of that.

Bollywood's most beloved actress of 90's Sonali Bendra was diagnosed with Metastatic cancer last year in July. In metastasis cancer, the cancerous cells spread to new areas of the body by way of the lymph system or bloodstream. When cancer spreads from the original parts of the body to other places, it is called metastatic cancer. The liver, lungs, lymph nodes and bones are common areas of metastasis.

Writer and director, Tahira Kashyap was diagnosed with Stage 0 of breast cancer in 2018. Stage 0 breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive cancer in which abnormal, cancerous cells grow in the lining of the breast milk duct. The damaged cells do not spread outside the ducts into the surrounding breast tissue.

Director Anurag Basu also fought a long battle with leukaemia. Leukaemia is referred to as blood cancer that is caused due to the rise in the number of white blood cells in the body. It usually begins in the bone marrow and results in high numbers of abnormal blood cells.

Lisa Ray was diagnosed with multiple Myeloma cancer a decade ago. After fighting the battle for a year, she was declared cancer-free. Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that forms in a plasma cell. A plasma cell is a type of white blood cell that fights infections by making antibodies.

Actress Manisha Koirala was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2012. She went through a six-month-long treatment and surgery in New York. Ovarian cancer begins in the ovaries of the female reproductive system. It often goes undiagnosed until it spreads to pelvis and abdomen.

Rakesh Roshan was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the throat in January 2019 and underwent surgery to treat the same. This type of cancer damages the flat cells lining of the throat. It is more common in people living in the United States.

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in the left lung in 2011. It is caused due to abnormal growth of cells in the lung tissue, or the airways.