MTV’s Ananda Lewis Talks Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis, 51, says she’s “thriving” after choosing to undergo new treatment for her Stage 4 breast cancer.

She was initially diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2019 but opted against the doctor-recommended double mastectomy to treat the cancer at the time. The cancer then progressed to Stage 4.

How is Ananda Lewis doing with her breast cancer?

Speaking with The New York Times Wednesday, Lewis said she’s now taking a drug that treats metastatic cancer but isn’t a candidate for surgery and chemotherapy given the current stage of her illness.

“Those medications are working beautifully for me in combination with the other things I’m doing that help support my body,” she told the Times. “I’m really thriving right now.”

She previously shared at a CNN roundtable on Tuesday that the current medications she’s on have shrunk some of the tumors, making a few of them “almost undetectable.”

Ananda Lewis’ breast cancer treatment

Lewis first revealed her cancer was Stage 4 and opened up about her decision to refuse the double mastectomy, expressing some regret, at the CNN roundtable.

“I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way,” Lewis told her long-time friend and CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam, who hosted the interview. “Looking back on that I go, ‘Girl, maybe I should’ve (had the surgery).'”

At the time, Lewis felt that she “didn’t have good options” when it came to her breast cancer treatment.

“They wanted to take both (breasts),” she said. “They wanted to do all these big things that I was not ready for.”

Instead, Lewis underwent chemotherapy and focused on alternative options, such as improving her mental health, getting more sleep and drinking less alcohol. She also completed monthly ultrasounds to monitor the cancer’s growth.

“I was watching, monitoring, seeing what the tumor was doing, seeing how it was reacting to things,” she recalled.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis’ cancer spread.

“The tumor kept growing. I could feel that,” she said. “Then I had to go get some help.”

At that time, Lewis underwent a type of targeted chemotherapy and said she responded well to the treatment. But in October 2023, a scan revealed that the cancer spread throughout her body, considered Stage 4.

“That scan showed that I had this kind of up my spine, through my hip, almost everywhere but my brain,” Lewis said. “I’ve never been in pain like that in my life.”

“I don’t get afraid of things,” Lewis continued. “I was just like, ‘Fudge, man, I really thought I had this.’ I was frustrated. I was a little angry at myself.”

Refusing treatment for cancer

Stage 3 breast cancer is often considered treatable, with 86% of patients surviving five or more years, the American Cancer Society says. However, Stage 4 breast cancer, also known as metastatic breast cancer, is considered incurable and has a five-year survival rate of 31%.

Multiple previous studies have shown that cancer patients who delay or refuse traditional treatments — such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy — and instead opt for alternative medicine have a greater risk of death.

Lewis has also said she regrets refusing to undergo regular mammograms out of fear of radiation exposure. In a 2020 Instagram story, she said she was exposed to far more radiation being treated for breast cancer than she would’ve had from mammograms, the Times reported. She also urged the importance of early detection of breast cancer.

“I wish I could go back,” she said in the video as she teared up, the Times reported. “It’s important for me to admit where I went wrong with this.”