Kathy Bates Now Cancer-Free

Revolutionary Road star reveals she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer but has been in remission for five years

By Gina Serpe Jan 09, 2009 3:40 PMTags

She may have a part in one of the Golden Globes' most-nominated films, but Kathy Bates has an even better reason to celebrate these days: a clean bill of health.

The Revolutionary Road star announced on the Today show this morning that her once secret battle with ovarian cancer has come to an end.

"I've been in total remission for five and a half years," she said.

"When I was going through it, I think I just needed to go through it and not really deal with anything but what I had in front of me and going through chemo," the 60-year-old Oscar winner said of her decision to keep her diagnosis under wraps. "I really just had to do it on my own."

Nowadays, however, she's all about group involvement, even recording a PSA for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance last fall.

"I've decided I'd like to try and share my story and maybe help other women, because early detection is the key in this kind of cancer and I was so lucky to find it early."