‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Kate Walsh On Early Cancer Screening, Prevention

• Kate Walsh, formerly of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” shares how cancer impacted her life.
• Both of Walsh’s parents died from cancer, and she survived a cancer scare of her own.
• The “Emily in Paris” actress is spreading awareness about the importance of early detection.

Award-winning actress Kate Walsh knows the impact of cancer all too well. In 2015, the former “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” star was diagnosed with a brain tumor at 48 years old.

“Thank God it was benign, and it was able to be removed, and I’ve been really healthy,” said Walsh, who recently guest starred in the third season of the hit series “Emily in Paris.”

A few years before her own cancer scare, one of her best friends from high school died of breast cancer.

“[She] had breast cancer multiple times and eventually succumbed to it at 44 years old. It was just too young, and it’s devastating,” Walsh told Healthline.

Walsh’s first experience with cancer loss dates back to when she was a young adult. Her father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer and given six months to live. Walsh was just 23 at the time.

“[He] managed to live a year and a half, which was great for me because then I could spend as much time with him as I could, but I lived in a different state, so it was very traumatic to lose my father at 23, as you can imagine,” Walsh said.

Years later, her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at 62. “It started how it does with a lot of women, which was irregular cells and lumpectomies, and then finally it ended in a double mastectomy, and she lived cancer-free for another almost 30 years, so very lucky,” said Walsh.

At the time of her mother’s diagnosis, Walsh was 28 and pushed to get a screening mammogram. “I had to really advocate and really fight to [get] my mammogram and ultrasound because of my mother’s [history],” she said.

“This governing body makes evidence-based recommendations on ways to prevent cancer as well as many other diseases and prolong life,” said David Cohn, MD, gynecologic oncologist and interim chief executive officer at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Their recommendations historically influence insurance coverage for any recommended testing that would occur,” Cohn told Healthline.

Many of the cancers that can be screened have detectable precancerous states that can be detected through testing and addressed before they develop into cancer.

“This is so important for increasing survival because we have far more treatment options for early-stage cancers than advanced cancers,” Cohn said.

While the screening guidelines are meant for a person of average risk, he recommended that everyone talk with their primary care doctor about their individual risk and the best prevention steps for them.

“For example, someone with a family history of colorectal or endometrial cancer might consider genetic testing for Lynch syndrome, a gene passed down through families that increases a person’s lifetime risk for cancer by up to 80% in some cases,” said Cohn.

Additionally, the genetic mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2 are linked not only to breast cancer but also to endometrial, pancreas, and prostate cancer.

“Knowledge is power, and preventing cancer or catching it at its earliest stages is critical for increasing long-term survival,” Cohn said.

The HPV vaccine is also an important cancer prevention tool that has existed since 2006.

“This provides protection against high risk HPV types linked to cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers,” Electra Paskett, PhD, cancer control researcher at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, told Healthline.

While the HPV vaccine is most effective between the ages of 9 and 12, it is available until age 45.

“The lack of awareness that it can prevent cancer later in life has slowed progress in preventing these cancers,” said Paskett.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that timely HPV vaccination could prevent 90% of cervical cancers alone, and only about half (56.9%) of children who qualify for the vaccine have received it.

“Among them, more girls and women are being vaccinated than boys and men,” Paskett said.

Genetic testing exists to identify inherited genetic risk factors that are passed down through families. However, those only account for about 5% to 10% of cancers.

“If there is a strong history of cancer, a genetic counselor can guide you to the appropriate screening steps beyond what is recommended for someone of ‘average’ risk,” said Cohn.

Apart from genetics, he said researchers are still learning why cancer occurs, but there are likely a constellation of unique factors converging to contribute to a person’s unique cancer risk.

“This could include environmental factors that mimic hormones and cause genetic changes in the body. These are called acquired mutations, meaning they happened through life exposures or circumstances, Cohn noted.

“We don’t know all the ways this occurs, but science points to forever chemicals like Teflon, microplastics, environmental radiation, and radon exposure, pesticides that we ingest through our foods or that we put on our lawns — the list of possibilities is vast.”

Only five types of cancer have screening tests, and around 70% of cancer deaths are caused by cancers with no proven screening tests, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Because of this, Walsh teamed up with the healthcare company Grail to launch its “Generation Possible” campaign to raise awareness of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) testing. The campaign also includes a quiz to see if you are at an elevated risk for cancer.

MCED testing may detect up to 50 types of cancer from a person’s blood sample by testing the blood for certain pieces of DNA or proteins from cancer cells.

The ACS states that some MCED tests might also show which organ the cancer is in while others may only identify if there is cancer in the body, requiring further tests or imaging tests to uncover where in the body the abnormal DNA or proteins came from.

“This is technology that science didn’t have in my parents’ generation and even in my generation previously,” Walsh said.

“I’m 57 now, but so to see these multi-cancer early detection tests with a blood draw that can screen for so many different types of cancers, even the most deadly cancers… is a great thing to investigate in conjunction with those other screenings because we know early detection gives you more options for treatment.”

While MCED tests are considered potentially promising for early detection of many cancers, they have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As such, some experts believe more work is needed to understand how MCED tests could be best used in clinical practice.

“There is some concern from public health experts… that they could also make health equity gaps in screening worse if equity is not an intentional consideration and discussion point throughout product development,” said Cohn.

“Minorities are underrepresented in clinical trials and cancer screening data nationally; this is the data that is fueling [the] development of these tools.”

At the time Walsh’s father was diagnosed with lung cancer, she said she was “living her best life” in her 20s, working on a TV show, not getting enough sleep, and eating and drinking without reserve.

However, when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few decades later, she began to make changes.

“I was 48 years old… you’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t keep that up,’” Walsh said. “I started getting into meditation and I was always into fitness and Pilates and walking and skiing — I love outdoor sports.”

Today, Walsh aims to follow what experts say are healthy lifestyle steps to help lower cancer risk. These include:

• maintaining a healthy weight
• eating a balanced diet with whole vegetables, fruits, and high fiber foods, and limiting processed foods and saturated fats
• eliminating or reducing alcohol consumption
• avoiding tobacco
• wearing sunscreen
• reducing stress
• getting enough quality sleep

“Prevention is key, and focusing on the things we can change… can all contribute to lower inflammation in the body and reduce overall cancer risk,” Cohn said.