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Former Desperate Housewives screen diva, Marcia Cross speaks out on anal cancer in hopes of putting an end to the stigma surrounding the disease.
As a result, she recently appeared on American news programme CBS This Morning to speak about the progress of her health ever since publically sharing her diagnosis a year ago.
In her interview, she shared that she and her husband Tom Mahoney’s cancers were likely related.
The New York Post’s Page Six reports that in 2009, Mahoney, 61, was diagnosed with throat cancer. Doctors reportedly told Cross, 57, that the same type of human papillomavirus (HPV) that triggered her husband’s disease could cause cancer in the anus.
“I know that there are people who are ashamed,” Cross told CBS before adding: “You have cancer! Do you have to then also feel ashamed like you did something bad because it took up residence in your anus? I mean, come on, really. There’s enough on your plate.”
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She also went on to share how support from a group of girlfriends, whom she called her “Anal Angels,” helped her get through her diagnosis.
Both Cross and Mahoney are currently in remission.
According to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted disease that infects most sexually active adults in the world (up to 80%).
HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer cases and a major cause of oral, anal, and penile cancers, as well as genital warts. Sexually active men and women of all ages should get vaccinated for protection against these cancers as well as genital warts, experts say.
