Elizabeth Hurley: My grandmother was 'too scared' to fight cancer

LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Elizabeth Hurley addressed the anger she felt at not being able to help her grandmother overcome her breast cancer diagnosis during several recent interviews given during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Hurley, an ambassador for Estee Lauder's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, told Sky News her grandmother was "too scared" to fight cancer when she first found a lump in breast.

"She was too scared to even tell her doctor," the actress recounted. "She didn't know anything about breast cancer. She assumed it was the death sentence and unfortunately it was for her."

The 49-year-old actress' grandmother died in 1992, but it wasn't until she partnered with Estee Lauder for the brand's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign that she realized people need to know more about the disease.

"It wasn't until I started to learn about breast cancer through Evelyn Lauder that I began to feel so angry that I hadn't known more at the time, when perhaps I could have helped her," she said.

"We know that if a cancer is found and treated early, there is a 95% chance of recovery. If only my grandmother and countless other scared women could have known this."

While speaking to The Times, Hurley revealed she's been getting annual mammograms since she turned 40 and that she "bullies" her friends to do the same.

"I bully all my friends and families to check their own breasts every month and to have an annual mammogram if over 40. I have given mammograms to friends who can't afford one for their birthdays," she said.