Women's Health April 23, 2026 0 Comments

How Lucy Liu’s Shocking Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Became a Life-Changing Wake-Up Call You Can’t Ignore

Ever had one of those moments where your world flips upside down in the blink of an eye? That’s exactly what happened to Lucy Liu back in the early ‘90s when, fresh off the plane to LA chasing her actress dreams, she found a lump in her breast and got hit with a terrifying cancer diagnosis after a quick doctor’s visit. Imagine, just moments later, planning surgery—not knowing that the lump was actually benign and the diagnosis, well, premature. It’s wild how a missed mammogram changed everything for her. Lucy’s story isn’t just about what happened then, but how it ignited a fierce fire inside her to take charge of her health—and to rally all of us to do the same. Because let’s be honest, in the chaos of life, how often do we really prioritize ourselves? Lucy’s journey is a powerful reminder that advocating for your health isn’t just wise—it can be life-saving. Ready to dive into what Lucy learned and how she’s turning those lessons into action?

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Lucy Liu was a young working actor in the early ‘90s—having recently moved to Los Angeles in search of her big break—when she found a lump in her breast. She did the responsible thing and went to the doctor right away to have it looked at, and after only a cursory physical examination, was given a scary diagnosis: cancer.

“Of course, I was like, ‘Let’s schedule the surgery right away,’” Lucy recalls on the latest episode of The Huddle, the Women’s Health podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between.

But Lucy didn’t have cancer (the lump was benign)—a fact that only became evident after surgery. Looking back, Lucy now realizes her physician skipped critical steps in her diagnosis, like ordering a mammogram, which may have precluded the need for an operation.

“I really did not know how to advocate for myself,” she says. Now, the 57-year-old is not only advocating for herself but for everyone to get the cancer screenings they need through a partnership with PfizerForAll. “Sharing this story is important for other people to get screened early,” she says.

Read on for what Lucy learned about prioritizing her health.

Making it a habit

Since that experience, Lucy has taken steps to be a proactive participant in her healthcare journey. For one, she’s diligently been getting routine screenings, so she has tangible information with which to make decisions.

“After that, I would go in annually and get a mammogram—they specifically specialized in breasts and cancer and mammography,” she says.

As a mom, Lucy knows how easy it is for medical appointments to get short shrift, but she urges all women to prioritize themselves in this way.

“We are so busy as women, as parents, as daughters. I think we overextend ourselves and we get so busy that we end up pushing the appointment,” she says. “It’s not convenient to travel somewhere, to go and get the appointment, and then to have maybe a somewhat uncomfortable experience. But it’s so important because it’s not even about other people relying on you—we don’t give ourselves that time enough, and we discredit ourselves oftentimes because we’re so busy doing. I think if you do for yourself and you give back to yourself, it’s not just like tenfold, it’s a hundredfold. It can be life-saving. And life-changing. ”

Bringing an ally

Another way Lucy makes sure she gets the most out of her time at the doctor’s office is by bringing someone with her as a second pair of eyes and ears.

“I think it’s really helpful because if you hear something, in some ways, your brain sort of shuts down,” she says. “You don’t remember what was said… There’s the feeling that you might have missed something.”

She also stresses that you should never be afraid to ask the followup question.

“Don’t preface it by saying, ‘This is a stupid question.’ It’s a question. If somebody’s making you feel stupid, that’s their problem, but you’re asking the questions so that you can advocate for yourself.”

Outside of the office, Lucy encourages finding like-minded folks with whom to share experiences and resources.

“There’s so many support groups that you can connect with now,” she says.

Ultimately, says Lucy, there needs to be a balance between using technology to do your own research and getting answers from a trusted expert.

“A lot of people are not going to the doctor or getting screens because they’re diagnosing themselves online,” she says. “There’s a danger in there. So what is the happy medium? Understanding that there are certain technologies that are built for a reason and how can you advocate for yourself by understanding and learning and researching, but also going in to the doctor and connecting with somebody in person and asking. There’s so many things that we don’t know.”

Redefining strength

Throughout her life—whether dealing with a health issue, raising her son, or kicking butt on a movie set—Lucy has relied on her inner strength to pull her through. And she’s quick to note that strength is an internal muscle that needs continuous work.

“I think strength is something that is built over time,” she says. “Strength is very closely connected to willpower. It’s an energy, it’s a vibration, and it will be the current to how you access your physical body or your mind.”

Lucy believes we all have an innate strength—but sometimes it’s blocked by the walls we’ve put up around it. We need to strip away those walls to fully access it.

“It’s not something that is ever finished,” she says of refining our strength. “It’s an infinite journey towards all the possibilities that it can bring you.”

Also on the Huddle: A shift in women’s sports and pregnancy and exercise myth-busting

Baby on board doesn’t have to mean mom’s in timeout. Jacqueline Andriakos, WH’s executive health and fitness director, chats about the changing narrative around strength training during pregnancy.

“The overarching message nowadays is if you feel comfortable and are not experiencing symptoms of lightheadedness, dizziness…pregnancy is a fine time to pick up weights, to maintain your routine, to still get your heart rate up,” Andriakos says. “It’s just a testament to what our bodies can do and not being treated as these fragile beings.”

Speaking of the amazing things our bodies can do, Amanda Lucci, WH’s special projects director, recently got back from the Women’s Final Four, where community really took centerstage. After years of fighting for a place in the spotlight, women’s sports have it—and are here to stay in a way that Lucci calls incredibly “ordinary.”

“It was exciting because I feel like I’m so used to interviewing people and being like, ‘What’s next for women’s sports? And why should we care about this?’ And it’s no longer about why should we care or trying to convince people to care,” she says. “People are caring.”

The Huddle by Women’s Health
Hosted by: Abigail Cuffey @alcuffey, Amanda Lucci @alucci, Jacqueline Andriakos @jandriakos
Executive Producer: Dorenna Newton @dorennanew
Filmed by: Romy Kirchauer @romy_rainer& Derrick St. Pierre @toasttolife
Associate Producer: Janie Booth @janiebooth
Talent Director: Nojan Aminosharei @whatisnojan

On-set chairs provided by AllModern
On-set lights from Harlowe @harlowecreators

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.