Thriving After Breast Cancer
- Actress Olivia Munn appeared at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, confidently wearing a lavish black velvet and satin green satin dress, following her recent battle with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer.
- The 44-year-old “X-Men: Apocalypse” star had both her breasts removed, a hysterectomy, removing her uterus, as well as surgeries to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries. After preserving her fertility and undergoing an egg retrieval, she is now taking medication to help prevent cancer recurrence.
- In some cases after cancer treatment, women may have difficulty giving birth to a child or they may be unable to at all. Having someone else carry their baby, like Munn, may be an option, either through surrogacy or a gestational carrier.
- Body positivity might not come easy for all cancer survivors. But getting to a point where you’re embracing your body can help you live life to the fullest.
The 44-year-old “X-Men: Apocalypse” star made a jaw-dropping appearance with her comedian husband John Mulaney at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted on March 2 in Beverly Hills, California.
Joking to the entertainment news outlet, Munn said, “I need a lot. After having kids and running around and everything, you kind of need a lot of that extra care.
“That’s the secret—a facial right before. Literally, like, an hour before I start.”
She also praised her husband for constantly being “so sweet and supportive,” adding, “It always feels good to get ready when he goes. No matter what it is, he’s always like, ‘You look great.'”
We’re glad to see Munn embracing life after cancer and looking effortless flawless in front of the cameras. It’s truly admirable how she has powered through adversity after her 2023 breast cancer diagnosis.
Her 2023 diagnosis led to her undergoing a double mastectomy [removal of both breasts], as well as a hysterectomy, removing her uterus, with additional surgeries to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries (oophorectomy) to avoid taking an estrogen-suppressing drug. She was also put into a medically-induced menopause before her hysterectomy.
She also went through another egg retrieval process [she had already gone through several prior to her diagnosis], and produced two healthy embryos.
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Olivia’s Breast Cancer Diagnosis & Journey
Munn’s breast cancer diagnosis emerged despite receiving a “normal” mammogram and testing negative for the BRCA-gene mutation, which increases your risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
At the suggestion of her OBGYN, the “X-Men” actress underwent a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment, which helps determine a woman’s probability of getting breast cancer. Her results called for additional screening, which revealed she had an aggressive form of cancer in both of her breasts.
“I wouldn’t have found my cancer for another year – at my next scheduled mammogram – except that my OBGYN…decided to calculate my Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score. The fact that she did save my life,” Munn said in an Instagram post.
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The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment she credits for catching her breast cancer is a “statistical model that allows healthcare professionals to calculate the probability of a woman developing breast cancer over the course of their lifetime,” Dr. Ruth Oratz, breast medical oncologist, NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center; clinical professor of medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine tells SurvivorNet.
Munn underwent genetic testing to better understand her cancer risk. Genetic tests can be as simple as a simple saliva swab or blood sample. The results help your care team determine if you have a specific mutation that puts you at higher risk for cancer. The results help doctors tailor your treatment and are helpful for breast cancer patients.
“I tested negative for all (different cancer genes), including BRCA,” Munn said.
Expert Breast Cancer Resources
- How To Reduce the Risk Of A Breast Cancer Recurrence
- What Happens During a Double Mastectomy?
- 6 Common Excuses for Skipping a Mammogram That You Need to Stop Using!
- Getting to Know Your Breasts with Self-Exams
- Bi-Annual Mammograms At Age 40 Now Recommended For Most Women, What The New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines Mean For You
The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are among the most important genes to look for in breast cancer. Together, they are responsible for about half of all hereditary breast cancers. These genes prevent cells from dividing haphazardly and uncontrollably in a person without mutations. Mutations prevent these genes from doing their job and can allow unchecked growth of breast, ovarian, and other tissues.
Two months after undergoing genetic testing, Munn was diagnosed with Luminal B breast cancer in both of her breasts.
Understand Olivia Munn’s Treatment
Munn underwent a double mastectomy [removal of. both breasts] to treat her cancer.
When a woman decides to have a mastectomy, several factors go into that decision. Among things to consider is whether to have breast-conserving surgery such as a lumpectomy. These decisions should be made alongside your doctor by openly and candidly discussing risks vs. benefits.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, tells SurvivorNet. “The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.”
WATCH: What Happens During a Double Mastectomy
Other factors that weigh into the decision to get a mastectomy are the size and features of the tumor and your family history. However, the gravity of your decision comes into full view, especially if you choose to get a mastectomy and remove both of your breasts.
Some women decide to have their breasts reconstructed and have implants put in right after the mastectomy, while others don’t have reconstruction at all.
Dr. Port added that most women opt to have some reconstruction. The length of these surgeries can vary greatly. When implants are used, the procedure can take two to three hours (so the total surgery time would be around five hours). There is also the option to take one’s own tissue (usually from the belly area) and transfer it into the breast area during reconstruction.
Before her undergoing her hysterectomy, oophorectomy and breast reconstruction, Munn went through another egg retrieval process [she had already gone through several prior to her diagnosis], and produced two healthy embryos.
Speaking to Vogue in May, she also confirmed that her and her husband have “two healthy embryos.”
WATCH: How chemotherapy affects fertility.
After undergoing a hysterectomy, which removed her uterus, as well as had surgeries to remove her fallopian tubes and ovaries (oophorectomy), Munn is now taking Lupron (generic name leuprorelin), a type of ovarian suppression drug that stops the ovaries from making the hormone estrogen, which can help prevent cancer recurrence in women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, and a hormone based chemotherapy drug/aromatase inhibitor called arimidex.
Lupron is in a class of drugs called luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, also known as LHRH analogs, according to the American Cancer Society. Lupron is a common type of LHRH drug that can be used alone or with other hormone drugs (such as tamoxifen, which many breast cancer survivors may recognize) as hormone therapy in pre-menopausal women.
Body Positivity and Cancer
Body positivity is a beautiful thing. And cancer survivors like Ann Caruso know that confidence comes from within.
Caruso had 12 surgeries to treat her breast cancer and told SurvivorNet all of the change really affected the way she saw her body.
“You’re not the same carefree person that you once were, and it was very hard for me to look at myself every day,” Caruso said in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. “It was like I was a totally different person and didn’t fit into any of my clothes for so long.”
Celebrity Stylist Ann Caruso on Beauty and Femininity After Cancer
But the celebrity stylist has learned a whole lot about femininity and body image since beating breast cancer. She hopes to impart her knowledge upon others dealing with similar struggles.
“Femininity is a state of mind,” Caruso said. “And I think that’s something that we have to remind ourselves.”
What Increases Your Risk for Breast Cancer?
Risk factors are things that make you more likely to get breast cancer. They don’t mean you’ll definitely get this cancer, only that you’re slightly more likely to be diagnosed. Being aware of your risk factors can help you stay on top of screenings, to find breast cancer early if it does develop.
According to SurvivorNet’s medical experts, you’re more likely to develop breast cancer if you have one or more of these risk factors:
- You’re older: Your risk for this cancer rises, the older you get. That doesn’t mean that you’re destined to get breast cancer as you age, or that young people are immune to it. You just need to be more vigilant about screenings as you get older.
- You have a gene mutation: Some women inherit changes to genes like BRCA1 or BRCA2, that increase their risk for breast cancer. Genetic tests can find these changes early, acting as an early warning for women to take preventive steps.
- You were exposed to estrogen for longer: Estrogen is a hormone that helps some breast cancers grow. Getting your period early (before age 12) or starting menopause late (after age 55), increases your exposure to this hormone.
- You waited to have children: Your risk may be higher if you waited to have children until after age 30, or you never gave birth. The risk is only slightly higher, meaning that you’re not definitely going to get breast cancer, just because you waited to have children.
- You were exposed to radiation: Being exposed to radiation early in life; for example, during treatment for a cancer like Hodgkin’s lymphoma, can increase your risk of breast cancer later in life.
- You have a family or personal history of breast cancer: Having cancer in your family, or going through treatment yourself, can make you more likely to be diagnosed.
SurvivorNet medical advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, breaks down the factors that might increase your risk for breast cancer.
It’s important to remember that not all women with these risk factors will develop breast cancer. Scientists are still trying to figure out why some women have no risk factors and still develop the disease, while others have risk factors and don’t ever get breast cancer.
Thriving After Cancer: Finding Vitality and the ‘Pathway’ to Resilience
Psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman suggests that people working on their mental health practice positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on encouraging patients to feel positive and finding what brings a sense of vitality to their lives, like how Munn enjoys spending time with her family.
Dr. Boardman explains them as “pathways to embrace your everyday resilience.” In other words, these are tools people who may be struggling with mental health issues can embrace to help maintain a certain sense of positivity. And those positive feelings can go a long way when people are facing a health challenge like a cancer diagnosis.
According to Dr. Boardman, these three wellsprings of vitality are:
- Connecting. This involves how you’re connecting with others and having meaningful interactions. It involves being a good listener and being engaged with the people around you who you care about.
- Contribution. How are you adding value to the people around you? Are you helping them in ways that feel meaningful to them? This entails contributing/engaging with others in a meaningful way.
- Feeling challenged. Being “positively challenged” could involve learning something new (perhaps by taking a new class or reading an interesting book) and expanding your mind in some way.
“Those are the cores of vitality and the core pathways to enhance your everyday resilience,” Dr. Boardman said.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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