Shannen Doherty finds work 'more fulfilling' amid cancer battle

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Shannen Doherty says she finds work "more fulfilling" amid her battle with stage 4 breast cancer.

The 50-year-old actress discussed her drive to work in an interview with ABC News published Monday.

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission in 2017. In February 2020, Doherty confirmed her cancer had returned and was now stage 4.

Despite her health struggles, Doherty, an actress known for Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, has recently worked on two Lifetime movies. She told ABC News that she is "living life" by working and spending time with friends and family.

"I think work was always very fulfilling to me, but in a way it's become even more fulfilling," Doherty said.

"A lot of people who get diagnosed with stage 4, they sort of get written off. It's assumed that they cannot work or they can't work at their full capacity, and that is not true," she added. "That is something that I would really like for people to sort of stop assuming, and give us the chance to prove them wrong."

Doherty said she is in her first protocol, or cancer treatment plan, since her cancer returned.

"I am on my first protocol, which is a very, very big thing," she said. "So it's kind of like you just want to last on your protocols as long as possible so that you don't run out of protocols."

Doherty recalled how experiences in her early career caused her to become "defensive" and "shut down" and said her battle with cancer has helped her trust others again.

"You really have to dig deep to face cancer, and in that you find all the stuff that you had hidden away," she said. "And it's beautiful things that you find. You find the vulnerability, you find your trust in people again, you find forgiveness."

Doherty's movie List of a Lifetime will premiere Oct. 10 on Lifetime.