USA: TENNIS: Martina Navratilova opens up about her recent breast cancer diagnosis

Record ID: 588945

  • Title: USA: TENNIS: Martina Navratilova opens up about her recent breast cancer diagnosis
  • Date: 9th April 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 7, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARTINA NAVRATILOVA SAYING: "When I first found out I thought, oh I'll keep this quiet because, you know, I really try to keep my private life private. The last 10 or 15 years I've really sort of closed the circle. People know enough about me already and I thought, I'll just keep this quiet. But then when I found out more about what I have and why we found out about it, which was through the mammogram, which I neglected to get my yearly check up for, as it turned out four years because I was just putting it off. And then I thought, I'm so lucky that we caught it early and we caught it early because of the mammogram and the mammography is so good that they can find calcifications (that are) tiny, like the size of a poppy seed. Now the cure is there. I mean, I have 90 percent chance that it won't come back. I already don't have cancer now, because they took it out. So we caught it so early and I thought, you know, it's because of the mammogram that we found it, then I thought, I have to talk about this."
  • Embargoed: 24th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA8783DHANBIFJ2F86I42XMNL51
  • Story Text: Martina Navratilova, one of the finest female tennis players of all time, revealed on Wednesday (April 7) that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
    "It was pretty much of a shock that it was actually cancerous and now I need to deal with it and my first thought was oh no I can't believe it," said Navratilova, 53, of the February moment when a biopsy came back positive after a routine mammogram revealed a cluster in her left breast.
    "It scared me because I don't want to lose my breasts, I don't want to lose my hair, but I have to fight it no matter what happens."
    Navratilova will begin six weeks of radiation therapy in May after having a minor invasive surgery called a lumpectomy and she says her prognosis for survival is extremely good.
    "I have a 90 percent chance that it won't come back. I already don't have cancer now, because they took it out," Navratilova told Reuters.
    The nine-times Wimbledon champion, who still plays tennis and ice hockey and competes in triathlons, said she is speaking publicly about her cancer to help promote awareness.
    "We caught it so early and I thought, you know, it's because of the mammogram that we found it, then I thought, I have to talk about this."
    The Czech-born Navratilova, who became a U.S. citizen in 1981, won 18 grand slam singles crowns during her career and is now the Health and Fitness advisor for the American Association of Retired People.
    She was diagnosed with a non-invasive form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, which in her case had not spread to the breast tissue.
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