Australian journalist and media personality Cassandra Thorburn has revealed that a mild armpit pain was the only symptom of her stage three occult breast cancer.
The 55-year-old said she had no physical lump in her breast, and an initial routine mammogram conducted in February showed no tumors in the breast tissue itself. However, the scan detected a grey area near her underarm, leading doctors to diagnose her with occult breast cancer.
Occult breast cancer is a rare medical condition where cancerous cells spread to surrounding tissue or lymph nodes while the primary tumor within the breast cannot be located. The condition accounts for roughly one per cent of all breast cancer cases.
Speaking to nine.com.au about her initial reaction to the diagnosis, Thorburn recalled her confusion at the findings. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you be told you've got breast cancer without a lump?" she said. "They couldn't explain it. There was no lump I could have found on my own."
Screening and exercise symptoms
Thorburn explained that prior to her diagnosis, she had noticed mild discomfort in her underarm area but initially attributed it to her intense physical exercise routine. At the time, she was participating in regular Muay Thai classes, a traditional martial art and kickboxing discipline from Thailand that involves intensive upper body conditioning.
"I was doing Muay Thai at the time, I was quite fit, and sometimes I thought, 'Do I have a sore underarm?'" Thorburn said. She added that she initially believed she was in the clear because "the mammogram didn't show anything in my breast."
The former Dancing With The Stars contestant expressed gratitude for attending the routine screening after receiving a reminder letter. She noted that without the scan, the cancer would not have been caught until it was too late.
Treatment and cancer-free status
Following the diagnosis, Thorburn underwent a comprehensive course of medical treatment including chemotherapy, multiple surgical procedures, and radiation therapy. Although she still has remaining rounds of radiation scheduled, she confirmed that she is now cancer-free.
Thorburn first publicly disclosed her health situation in a video posted to Instagram in February. The clip followed a post from the previous day in which she showed her recently shaved head to followers.
In the video, Thorburn explained her decision to speak out openly about her treatment. "I'm going to have to read this because on my walk this morning, I thought about all the reasons why I made that post yesterday," she said. "Most of it is controlling the only part of my treatment and diagnosis that I can. That's the part about when the hair comes off and when you tell people. For my adult children and for myself, I'm not interested in hiding, and that's because I'm not alone."
She added: "I'm not walking a path that is not well travelled by many women before me and I will not be the last." Striking an optimistic tone, she concluded the message by stating: "It may have flipped my world in days, but there's no 'why me?' There's no 'poor me' here. Just a desire to stop this in its tracks."
Media career and personal life
Thorburn began her career as a media personality and television journalist before stepping back from her professional work to focus on raising her family. In 2019, she returned to public profile as a contestant on the reality television competition Dancing With The Stars.
Thorburn was married to Australian television presenter Karl Stefanovic, the longtime co-host of Nine Network's morning program Today, for 21 years. The couple experienced an acrimonious split in 2016. They share three adult children: Jackson, 25, Ava, 19, and River, 18.
Stefanovic has since remarried, marrying former fashion model Jasmine Yarbrough in 2018. The couple share a five-year-old daughter, Harper.
