Longtime CNN Host Reveals Harrowing Cancer Scare

CNN anchor Sara Sidner revealed Monday that she feared her breast cancer had returned after a recent scan appeared to show the disease had spread throughout her body.

The veteran journalist, who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2023 before announcing she was cancer-free in 2024, told viewers on “CNN News Central” that a recent PET scan delivered devastating news at first glance.

“It indicated I was likely metastatic, stage 4 cancer, incurable. It appeared to have spread to my hip, my spine, my liver, my lungs. I was inconsolable at the time,” Sidner said.

She said the alarming results immediately sent her spiraling.

“I looked up, ‘How long do I have to live?’ The number came back, less than five years. It knocked the breath out of me, as you might imagine. Then I cried.”

Doctors ordered a biopsy to determine whether the scan was accurate, leaving Sidner in limbo for more than two weeks.

She described the wait as “fifteen days of torture.”

The biopsy ultimately brought welcome news.

“Not cancer. Again, shock because this scan suggested otherwise. The doctor then made very clear, biopsy beats scan. I had a deep, guttural sigh of relief,” she said.

A molecular blood test for cancer later confirmed the biopsy’s findings.

Sidner said she learned the results while at work and immediately reached for co-anchor John Berman.

“‘Negative,’ I croaked. A lump of tears was in my throat,” said Sidner.

She then introduced guest Sally Joy Wolf, who is living with stage 4 breast cancer and, as Sidner noted, “is showing us all how to thrive, even with that diagnosis.”

Sara Sidner has openly documented her cancer battle since first revealing her diagnosis in early 2024.

CNN anchor Sara Sidner announces she has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. @sarasidnerCNN #SaraSidner #BreastCancerAwareness #CNN #News
Sara get well soon!! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Sjz5SpoIQp

— Meta Resistance 🦅 (@MetaResistance) January 8, 2024

During treatment, she allowed cameras to capture much of the process, including her chemotherapy port, radiation burns and scars from her double mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction. She also continued appearing on television while undergoing treatment, despite hair loss and other visible side effects.

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Speaking to PEOPLE Health earlier this year, Sidner said she wanted viewers to see the reality of cancer because “One in eight women go through this and I’m in the business of showing the truth. This is the truth.”

She acknowledged the emotional toll the experience took on her appearance and confidence.

“But she also noted that ‘it sucked. And there were days where I’m like, ‘Girl, you look ugly as s—. I don’t know if anyone can pay attention to what you are saying ‘cause you are a hot mess.’ ” But at the same time “it freed me,” she says. “It freed me from the intense perfectionist nitpicking that I was used to doing to myself. So many of those insecurities were unlocked and unleashed, and all live on TV.”

Despite her recent scare, Sidner also announced Friday that she plans to run the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1 to raise money for cancer research.

“I am not a runner, don’t even like running,” she said.

Sidner is raising donations for Memorial Sloan Kettering and said she is running “In honor of all of the cancer survivors and all of the researchers who get no publicity, who just do their work with their beakers and their microscopes.”

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