Marcia Cross says doctors suspect her anal cancer is linked to her husband Tom Mahoney’s throat cancer

Marcia Cross isn’t ashamed to tell her story. The Desperate Housewives alum got candid as she spoke out about her anal cancer diagnosis on Thursday, June 6.

Stars Who Have Bared Their Souls About Their Struggles Opens a New Window.

“I was so not thinking anything was wrong because I didn’t have any symptoms, and [the gynecologist] gave me an exam and came around and said, ‘Well, I just want you to know, whatever it is it’s curable,'” Cross, 57, recalled during an interview on CBS This Morning. “I was like, ‘What? What are you talking about?'”

The Melrose Place alum went on to talk about her hope to help destigmatize the disease. “I know that there are people who are ashamed,” she said. “You have cancer. Should you then also feel like ashamed like you did something bad because it took up residence in your anus?”

Cross — whose husband, Tom Mahoney, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2009 — went on to note that doctors now suspected that their cancers are linked and came from the same type of human papillomavirus virus, or HPV, which can be transferred through sexual intercourse or skin-to-skin contact.

The Everwood actress and Mahoney, who have been married since 2006 and share 12-year-old twin daughters Savannah and Eden, are planning to have their children vaccinated for HPV in the next few weeks.

“My girls don’t know it, but they’re up for their first shot at the end of the school year,” Cross explained.

Celebrity Health Scares Opens a New Window.

Cross was diagnosed with anal cancer nearly a year and a half ago. She took to Instagram in September 2018 to share the news that she was happy and healthy following her battle.

“I am POST cancer. All good now,” she exclaimed at the time. “Hard journey, but I am HEALTHY, happy, and more present and grateful than ever. Thank you from the bottom of my ever expanding heart for all of your LOVE.”