Coronation Street actress Victoria Ekanoye, 42, reveals she found breast cancer lump while breastfeeding her six-month son Theo but it took three doctors to correctly diagnose her
Victoria Ekanoye opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis on Loose Women on Tuesday.
The actress, who played Angie Appleton in Coronation Street, found a lump only as big as a frozen pea when she was breastfeeding her baby son, six months, in 2021.
The 42-year-old then underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with ductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer, in the same place.
Victoria is currently starring in the ITV’s The Real Full Monty alongside Coleen Nolan, and she appeared on the Loose Women to discuss her cancer battle.
Speaking to Coleen, Ruth Langsford, Janet Street-Porter and Linda Robson, she confessed her son saved her life: ‘I genuinely believe this, I think having Theo saved my life because if I weren’t breastfeeding him I might not have found it.’
Coronation Street actress Victoria Ekanoye, 42, revealed on Loose Women on Tuesday she found a breast cancer lump while feeding her son Theo, six months, in 2021
The actress, who played Angie Appleton in the soap, found a lump only as big as a frozen pea when she was breastfeeding her baby son in 2021 and said ‘he saved my life’
Recounting her diagnosis she explained: ‘So my son Theo was six months old and I was breastfeeding him when I found a lump.
‘You just assume that those changes are due to being pregnant, or from breastfeeding and I wanted that to be the case but I’m the fifth person in my family now to develop breast cancer and the ninth to develop some sort of cancer in three generations.’
‘It took me two days, which is long for me to get help and frustratingly it took me three opinions to get my diagnosis.
‘It frustrates me because someone else might just take that first opinion and run for the hills with glee.’
Probed by Coleen how she knew the first opinion was mistaken she said: ‘I just knew my body. I have sickle cell so I have to be really body aware anyway and in that moment I was just constantly conscious of everything that was going on.’
After having her son, Victoria explained that she was on high alert with the changes that were happening in her body and she knew something was wrong.
‘It just didn’t feel right. It felt like a frozen pea or chickpea and I genuinely believe this, I think having Theo saved my life because if I weren’t breastfeeding him I might not have found it.
‘As [the breasts] fill with milk they get bigger and it pushed the lump to the surface and you could just see it, you didn’t even have to go looking for it.’
Victoria is currently starring in the ITV ‘s The Real Full Monty alongside Coleen Nolan and she appeared on Loose Women ahead of the show’s finale on Tuesday to discuss her cancer battle
‘I genuinely believe this, I think having Theo saved my life because if I weren’t breastfeeding him I might not have found it’
Victoria also opened up about her diagnosis: ‘Frustratingly it took me three opinions to get my diagnosis. It frustrates me because someone else might just take that first opinion and run for the hills with glee’
Probed by Coleen how she knew the first opinion was mistaken she said: ‘But I just knew my body. I have sickle cell so I have to be really body aware anyway and in that moment I was just constantly conscious of everything that was going on’
The star explained that as the milk filled up her breasts it pushed the lump to the surface and by the end she could see it without looking for it
Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply rub and feel from top to bottom, in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to identify any abnormalities
Updating the hosts on her cancer journey now, Victoria revealed she only has a very small number of tumor cells still circulating in her body.
‘I haven’t told you this yet but I am OK! They put me on medication rather than chemotherapy because chemotherapy was more life threatening due to my sickle cell.
‘The side effects for that is that I am now in an induced menopause which is really fun with a toddler,’ she joked.
‘So I went and had an incredible, groundbreaking blood test to see if I had any circulating tumour cells left in my body from the breast cancer and I do, but it’s a very small amount that can be treated. I’m hoping that it’s not a case of having to need chemotherapy because of all the side effects of that.
‘But the main thing for me is knowing now, because it’s on a molecular level. It’s not something you’d see on a scan, an ultrasound or a mammogram, it’s nothing you can feel.’
Coleen asked: ‘So you’ve got it way in advance?’
Victoria said: ‘Yes, I’m waiting for results to come back because I’ve done another set of tests and when they come back, I’ll know. I think it’s the not knowing and that loss of control…’
Coleen told Victoria: ‘Can I just say as well, everyone on [The Real Full Monty] was amazing but Victoria, I have to say this because I don’t think I say it enough, you’re one of the most positive people but also one of the nicest souls I’ve ever met in my life.
‘I say it to everyone I meet about you, you are so kind, you never had a bad word to say, you never complained.
‘She got very ill during filming [The Real Full Monty] and was in hospital for nine days, and all she could think about was phoning us up and saying “I’m so sorry I’ve let you down, I’m going to come back” and she’s never complained!’
Victoria stars in The Real Full Monty alongside Gemma Collins, Vanessa Bauer, Julia Bradbury, Pete Wicks, Ben Cohen, Paul Burrell and Ashley Cain as they raise awareness of life-saving cancer checks
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?
What is breast cancer?
It comes from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding tissue it is called ‘invasive’. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in those over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, though this is rare.
Staging indicates how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast-growing. High-grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated.
What causes breast cancer?
A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest X-ray.
How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.
- Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops them from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How successful is treatment?
The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.
The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 means more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancernow.org or call its free helpline on 0808 800 6000