Strictly favourite Amy Dowden shocked fans yesterday as she announced she will be pulling out of this year’s show for an emergency mastectomy amid her ongoing battle with breast cancer.
The professional dancer, 35, was first devastatingly diagnosed with the disease in May 2023, after finding a lump on her breast.
Ms Dowden, who underwent a single mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment following her diagnosis, was also forced to leave the dancefloor early last year after another health scare.
She announced in a heartbreaking Instagram video posted yesterday morning that she has been advised by doctors to undergo another mastectomy this week.
‘As you all know I’ve always been very open about my health and the care I receive,’ she said.
‘So I’d like to start by being clear what I am about to share is not to treat a new cancer diagnosis.
‘However, following a recent appointment with my incredible medical team, we’ve decided that I’ll be having another mastectomy this week.’
She added that, all going well, she is expected to make a full recovery.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the UK, with more than 740,000 women currently thought to be living with the disease, according to Breast Cancer Now.
By 2050, breast cancer deaths are set to soar by more than 40 per cent—amid a concerning rise in cases in under 50s.
Treatment usually begins with a lumpectomy—where only cancerous tissue is removed—followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or a mastectomy, again sometimes followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
A mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast and is usually recommend when there is more than one area of cancer in the breast, or have a large tumour.
During the procedure, breast tissue is cut away to remove cancer cells and reduce the risk of tumours forming in healthy breast tissue.
In around a third of cases, women also choose to have breast reconstruction surgery to make a new breast after removal of the breast tissue using an implant or tissue from another part of the body.
Every year around 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK, according to the charity—with more than a third opting for a mastectomy.
Speaking on a new podcast ahead of the latest series of Strictly, Ms Dowden—who was knocked out of the show with partner Thomas Skinner in the first round— opened up about she became ‘fixated’ with returning to the stage during the height of her illness in 2023 when doctors found more tumours and ‘another type of cancer’.
Strictly’s Amy Dowden has revealed she is undergoing a second mastectomy amid her breast cancer battle. In 2024, doctors could find no evidence of the disease in her system, but had warned that she wouldn’t officially get the all-clear for five years
She explained: ‘Following a recent appointment with my incredible medical team, we’ve decided that I’ll be having another mastectomy… I can expect a straightforward recovery’
In an Instagram post on Monday, the dancer – who was eliminated from Strictly first this year with Thomas Skinner (pictured) – revealed she is now set for a second mastectomy
She said: ‘When I was told I needed a mastectomy, I straight away said can I have both off.
‘What I didn’t want was to get back on with my life and for the cancer to come back in the other breast, I didn’t want to come back and deal with it.
‘I wanted to get on with my life,’ she told the Breast Cancer Uncovered Podcast.
But doctors were hesitant to perform a double mastectomy because Ms Dowden was already at a high risk of infection, due to her medication for Crohn’s Disease which was suppressing her immune system.
The professional dancer underwent a unilateral mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery to replace the breast tissue, with a combination of an implant and body tissue.
Whilst doctors were able to tell Ms Dowden in February 2024 ‘no evidence of disease’ was found at her latest health check, each person’s risk of cancer recurrence is different and depends on many factors such as the size, type, grade and severity of the cancer, and whether the lymph nodes were affected.
But the risk of breast cancer recurring is higher in the first few years following initial diagnoses and usually reduces as time goes on.
Sadly, the strictly star is no stranger to health struggles, which she has candidly discussed over the years.
While Amy was thankfully told she had ‘no evidence of cancer’ last year after surgery and chemotherapy, she has since spoken out about the ‘longest’ part of her journey – her recovery
Amy was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer the day after she came home from her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones in 2023
In May 2023 she revealed her grade three breast cancer diagnosis, after she found a lump in her breast the day before going to the Maldives on her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones.
She admitted it wasn’t easy to share the shock news but vowed to ‘get back on the dancefloor’.
Caerphilly-born Dowden then underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment over nine gruelling months.
However, while she was undergoing cancer treatment Ms Dowden revealed she was nearly killed by sepsis.
Two days after her chemotherapy treatment on August 3, 2023 she went for a walk with her parents before taking a turn for the worse.
Her parents called an ambulance and Ms Dowden ended up in intensive care with a high temperature and was diagnosed with sepsis.
Sepsis, is a life threatening reaction to an infection. It happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs, the NHS explains.
It can be deadly in otherwise healthy people but it is particularly dangerous for those undergoing any treatment that suppresses the immune system, such as chemotherapy.
The Welsh dancer admitted she was so scared of taking time off from Strictly Come Dancing that she almost decided against having chemotherapy
As part of her ongoing cancer treatment, Amy visits her local oncology ward every month to receive an injection and to be monitored
Eventually in February 2024, Ms Dowden was told that she had no evidence of cancer. She told her fans on Instagram: ‘I won’t be getting the all clear for five years – especially with a hormone fed cancer – but it was all worth it.’
However, in August she revealed that she was rushed back to hospital for further tests as doctors were concerned about abnormalities in her breast after a check-up.
She had just danced in front of an audience for the first time in a year when the results of her annual MRI and mammogram put her ‘back on hold’.
Tests revealed widespread calcium deposits in one of her breasts and doctors were worried it could be the ‘precursor to invasive breast cancer’.
But further tests at the time proved that the abnormalities were benign changes and she was ‘so relieved it was unreal’.
The dancer has also been open about her health battle with Crohn’s disease, which she was diagnosed with age 19 after being referred to a specialist in London.
She’d been suffering from bouts of illness from the age of 11.
The lifelong condition causes parts of the digestive system to become inflamed. For Amy this caused here to suffer with swollen eyes, mouth ulcers, constipation, pain, sickness and fatigue. She now takes eight steroids a day to stay out of hospital.
The dancer has also been open about her health battle with Crohn’s disease, which she was diagnosed with age 19 after being referred to a specialist in London
The dancer has battled gut condition Crohn’s disease since she was a child and said she has already been through ‘quite a lot’ in her life with health struggles
In an interview with WalesOnline in 2020, Amy recalled how Crohn’s affected her in her teenage years. She confessed that is was a ‘roller coaster of emotions’ and the ‘hardest time’ of her life.
At the start of her dance career Amy said potential dance partners considered her a ‘risk’ to work with, over concerns that her Crohn’s disease would impact their careers if she needed to take time out.
She told Crohn’s & Colitis UK that it was a relief to receive a diagnosis and added that ‘Crohn’s was never going to hold (her) back’.
‘I just have to look out for the signs, which for me start with swollen eyes. Then I call my doctor,’ she told the charity.
‘I have learnt to listen to my body, and to notice when things start getting out of tune. I know when I need to rest, and when I have to eat simply and drink lots of water.’
‘I just have to look out for the signs, which for me start with swollen eyes. Then I call my doctor,’ she told the charity.
‘I have learnt to listen to my body, and to notice when things start getting out of tune. I know when I need to rest, and when I have to eat simply and drink lots of water.’
Amy, who is vocal about her battle with Crohn’s, was the subject of a BBC documentary about the illness in 2020.
‘The film, which was called Crohn’s and Me, subsequently won a BAFTA Cymru award.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 71 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000
