R&B singer Shanice says she was diagnosed with breast cancer after skipping mammogram for 8 years
The Grammy-nominated singer and actress said she underwent a double mastectomy.
R&B singer Shanice is sharing new details of her breast cancer journey, revealing she was diagnosed with the disease after avoiding mammograms for nearly a decade.
"I just want to tell women how important it is to get your mammograms," Shanice said Wednesday on "Good Morning America," adding, "If I would have gone sooner, I could have caught [my breast cancer diagnosis] when it was just at stage zero."
The "I Love Your Smile" singer said she had a health scare in her mid-40s when doctors thought she had a cancerous lump in her breast.
Doctors determined the lump was a cyst that didn't require further testing, but Shanice, now 51, said the scare deterred her from getting screened annually for breast cancer.
"Because of the fear that I had when they thought they saw something, I didn't go for eight years," Shanice said, adding that she has dense breast tissue which can make it more difficult to detect breast cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Earlier this year, in March, Shanice said she felt a lump in her breast that prompted her to return to her doctor for a mammogram.
The mammogram and a subsequent ultrasound showed cancer, according to Shanice.
Though doctors originally thought she had ductal carcinoma in situ -- when cancer cells are only in the lining of the milk ducts and have not spread to other parts of the breast -- Shanice said she opted for a double mastectomy.
After undergoing the surgery in May, Shanice said she was told by doctors that she had a stage 1, one-centimeter tumor in her breast.
"When I had my surgery and they told me I had cancer, I literally lost my smile," Shanice said. "But I wanted to come on the show to encourage women that you have to keep smiling. I got my smile back."
Starting at age 40, it is recommended that women at average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every two years, until age 74, according to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines. Ultrasounds are not typically used in routine screening but are recommended by physicians in certain cases.
Women should notify their medical provider if they notice any new lumps, skin changes, and nipple changes, including unusual discharge, pain, and redness.
Even if the last mammogram is clear, women should discuss any changes with a healthcare provider.
Over the past 35 years, breast cancer deaths have fallen by 44% in the United States, saving nearly 520,000 lives, according to a report released Oct. 1 by the American Cancer Society.
Mammography was cited by the report's authors as playing a crucial role in detecting cancer earlier, and helping to save lives.
Shanice said she hopes women learn from her story to put their "fear" aside and get screened regularly for breast cancer. She noted that early detection is particularly important for women like her, who are Black.
Black women face a 38% higher chance of dying from breast cancer and have worse outcomes at every stage and subtype, except for localized cancers, compared to white women, according to the ACS report.
"I just want to tell women out there, put that fear aside," Shanice said. "If you get checked early, you can beat this thing. It's not a death sentence. If you can get there early, you'll live."