(Photo Credit:Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

Christina Applegate recalled the initial loneliness of receiving her breast cancer diagnosis.

"I think when you get diagnosed with cancer, there's such a sense of loneliness, but we need to know as people going through this is that you're not alone," Applegate said during a behind-the-scenes interview for her new PSA for Stand Up to Cancer and Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

Fortunately, when the 42-year-old "Anchorman" actress learned she had breast cancer in 2008 and underwent a bilateral mastectomy, she found a village of support, including three women - "my three survivor friends" - she met through her physicians.

"Our doctors understood that we, as cancer survivors or patients, are the ones that really understand one another on a deep cellular level," she said, choking back tears. "I had these three strangers in my life who I called up at any time of the night and they would be there for me and answer any questions that I have."

Cancer-free since the double mastectomy, the former "Married With Children" star is paying forward the support she received by talking to fellow breast cancer patients and survivors.

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"I always get really nervous right before I get on the phone, because I think that this person might need to hear something different than the girl I talked to two weeks ago," Applegate said in the interview. "But the one thing that helped me was, 'I'm here for you,' so that you never feel alone

To this day, Applegate still talks to her trio of women, and not always about cancer.

"Not talking about cancer every time they saw me was nice sometimes," she said. "You wanted to be reminded that you're much more than that in life, and you really are."