Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao, 56, celebrated receiving a clear scan on Saturday amid her stage 4 breast cancer battle.
Taking to Instagram, the former Olympic gymnast, 56, from Dublin, posted a heartwarming video where she exclaimed: ‘I know it’s not forever but I’m going to take it for now. A bit of good news at last and I’m so happy!’
Jacquie revealed in June 2020 that she was facing a second battle with breast cancer after doctors first told her she had the disease in 2013.
Celebration: Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao, 56, celebrated receiving a clear scan on Saturday amid her stage 4 breast cancer battle
Writing a lengthy statement alongside the video, the presenter penned: ‘I’m not cured – make no mistake – there is no cure for Stage 4 cancer but for now the scan is clear. It’s the best I can hope for. For now ……and I’m so so so grateful.’
In the video, Jacquie held a makeshift Sky News card which read: ‘Breaking Sky News news.’
The presenter explained: ‘So I’ve got some breaking news… scans are in and…’ she then dropped the card to reveal another one which said: ‘No evidence of cancer!’
Jacquie continued: ‘I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it. I know it’s not forever but I am going to take it for now. A bit of good news at last and I’m so happy!’
Happy: Taking to Instagram, the former Olympic gymnast, 56, from Dublin, posted a heartwarming video where she exclaimed: ‘I know it’s not forever but I’m going to take it for now. A bit of good news at last and I’m so happy!’
Heartbreaking: Jacquie revealed in June 2020 that she was facing a second battle with breast cancer after doctors first told her she had the disease in 2013
The presenter penned alongside the video: ‘#Breaking scans are in and ….. FINALLY a bit of good news – progress – amazing b****y progress.
‘So very grateful to my oncologist Muireann, my surgeon Mr Sharma, my guardians and guides @joannapeixoto @julialeckeyauthor @elenhughes9 Annette Burns in Ireland @louisa.breathebalancebe.
‘@how_to_starve_cancer @nicole_hill65 for all the encouragement @trishlighthouse108 for light & love & her singing bowl @millbrae123 for all the Shabbat Shalom every Friday.
‘ALL my friends and colleagues and to my amazing, strong beautiful family @mreduardob @ameliaabeltrao @tiagoobeltrao @jorgebeltrao_ & the magical dogs plus my sisters Susu & Lorraine who are never far away.’
Candid: Writing a lengthy statement alongside the video, the presenter penned: ‘I’m not cured – make no mistake – there is no cure for Stage 4 cancer but for now the scan is clear. It’s the best I can hope for. For now ……and I’m so so so grateful.’
Jacquie continued: ‘I know this isn’t permanent things could have changed again by my next scan, that the drugs stop working or whatever but…. for now in the here and now this is the best I could hope for.
‘I lost my beloved Mother-in-law Anna yesterday – it was a horrible day. This news, my scan news, came two hours later and helped us all. Anna would have been so happy and relieved.
‘I’m sure she is still and is raising a glass in heaven as we speak, I would have loved to have shared this news with her. But I’m sharing it with you all because I’ve had so much lovely support this year – it’s made a world of difference in a terrible year.
‘I hope people can get a little bit of hope from my story. I’m not cured – make no mistake – there is no cure for Stage 4 cancer but for now the scan is clear. It’s the best I can hope for. For now ……and I’m so so so grateful.’
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?
Breast cancer develops 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 breast tissue it is called an ‘invasive’ breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare.
Staging means 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 of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps 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 the 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 focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells 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 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk, breastcancernow.org or www.cancerhelp.org.uk
The mother-of-three found a new ‘tiny’ lump during lockdown last year and began chemotherapy soon after.
Jacquie admitted in July that it had been a ‘living nightmare’ since her new grade three diagnosis.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 for which she went through five cycles of chemotherapy in four months.
Speaking in a video posted to Twitter explaining her new diagnosis at the time, Jacquie said: ‘So, during lockdown I took my own advice, did a check, found a tiny, tiny, little lump just here.
Devastating: The mother-of-three found a new ‘tiny’ lump during lockdown last year and began chemotherapy soon after
‘Had it checked out and a biopsy straight away and it turns out it’s grade three breast cancer, much nastier than the first one I had.
‘I’m sharing this because it felt weird to be going back to work on Sky and being on social media and acting like everything was shiny, perfect and fun when it wasn’t.’
Jacquie previously told Hello! magazine last year that she ‘didn’t realise’ breast cancer could return. ‘Facing it again felt like a kick in the stomach,’ she added.
Emotional: Jacquie previously told Hello! magazine last year that she ‘didn’t realise’ breast cancer could return. ‘Facing it again felt like a kick in the stomach,’ she added
‘When I was told it was incurable, I burst into tears and thought, “That’s it, I’m going to die”.
‘I felt so sad that I’d never go to my daughter’s wedding, see my sons graduate, or become a grandma.’
Jacquie is mother to sons Tiago, 19, and Jorge, 17, and daughter Amelia, 21, with her Brazilian-born husband Eduardo.
The presenter has been sharing videos documenting her chemotherapy sessions and breast cancer battle, describing herself as a ‘chemo warrior’.
Brave: The presenter has been sharing videos documenting her chemotherapy sessions and breast cancer battle, describing herself as a ‘chemo warrior’ (pictured last year)