Marcia Cross is offering words of wisdom. Six years after sharing she was diagnosed with anal cancer , the Desperate Housewives alum explained how she's continuing to prioritize her health in more ways than one, starting with daily sunscreen and sun protection. "I just have to do that—I don't want skin cancer," Cross exclusively told E! News at the 2024 Daytime Beauty Awards on Sept.
30. "That just has to be for every person on the planet now. It's kind of a no-brainer.
Protect your skin." But it's not the only lesson she's decided to pass on since opening up about her cancer battle in 2018: She's also emphasizing the importance of regular checkups. "It's so hard, but you just have to keep up with all your appointments," Cross continued.
"It's hard to stay on top of all that, but you know, it's lifesaving." In Cross' case , her gynecologist found a cancerous mass during a routine digital rectal exam in 2017. "I was so not thinking anything was wrong because I didn't have any symptoms," she later told CBS This Morning .
"[My doctor] gave me an exam and she came around and said, 'Well, I just want you to know whatever it is, it's curable.'" The Everwood actress underwent 28 radiation appointments—with chemotherapy in the first and fifth weeks—before sharing that she was "post cancer" in September 2018. "All good now.
Hard journey, but I am HEALTHY, happy and more present and grateful than ever," she wrote on Instagram at the time. "Thank you from the bottom of my ever exp.