Audrey Hepburn

Cancer Type – Appendix Cancer

Bio – Audrey Hepburn -The Breakfast at Tiffany’s star will always be an idol to women. Her time was cut short after diagnosed with uncommon appendix cancer.

Short Story – She is the iconic 1950’s and 60’s star that adorns today’s Pinterest memes with quotes such as, “Nothing is impossible, or The word itself says “I’m Possible.” And “Elegance is the only beauty that never fades.” She was classy and elegant. The year she won her Oscar and Tony, a New York Times critic called Audrey “a slender, elfin and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike.”

After ending her acting career, Hepburn became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). In 1992 after returning from a trip to Somalia, she was diagnosed with appendix cancer.

Audrey had a rare appendiceal cancer named pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), which normally begins in the appendix as a small mass and develops into a tumor. If left untreated, the mass eventually bursts through the wall of the appendix to form more tumors.

This cancer creates a gelatin-like matter called mucin. The substance can trigger the appendix to inflate like a balloon. The growth can then breach the appendix wall and disperse cancer cells into the liner of the belly (the peritoneum). The tumor cells and mucin build up in the lining of the stomach, putting compression on the bowel.

Audrey passed from complications of her cancer at the age of 63 (1993).

The year after her death, her sons formed the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund. This fund allows their mother’s humanitarian work to continue. Her sons have become advocates for Pseudomyxoma cancer and Sean has become Rare Disease Day ambassador for Eurordis and Nord, two organizations for rare disorders.

We will forever remember her in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Image Credits – By Paramount-photo by Bud Fraker (eBay front back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons