Braxton has benign tumor removed

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. recording artist and former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Toni Braxton says she recently had a benign tumor removed from her breast.

Braxton, 41, told Us Weekly she underwent the operation the week before the "Dancing" finale Nov. 25. She and her professional dance partner Alex Mazo had been eliminated from the show in October.

The mother of two young sons said the lump was discovered during a routine checkup in August, but doctors told her she could go ahead and compete on "Dancing." When a follow-up visit revealed the tumor had grown they decided to remove it.

"I was worried about what they would find, but it was benign," the entertainer told the magazine. "We have family history. My grandmother on my dad's side died of breast cancer, and I have aunts on both sides that have breast cancer ... I was very fortunate. Cancer knows no race, no creed, no color."