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Danielle Fishel, the superstar actress who rose to fame in the 90s as Topanga on the ABC show Boy Meets World, revealed Sunday that she was recently diagnosed with a form of breast cancer.
The 43-year-old made the announcement on an episode of her “Pod Meets World” podcast alongside co-host and former show co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle.
“So, I would like to share something with our listeners, something that Rider and Will were actually two of the first people I told the news to,” Fishel said at the top of the episode. “I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer.”
Thankfully, it does not appear as if the cancer has advanced to a dangerous stage at this point.
“It is very, very, very early. It’s technically stage 0,” she continued. “To be specific, just because I like too much information all the time, I was diagnosed with high-grade DCIS with microinvasion.”
“I’m going to be fine. I’m having surgery to remove it,” Fishel told listeners. “I’m going to be on some follow-up treatment. I’ve had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple of days.”
Johns Hopkins provides the following information about DCIS:
- DCIS accounts for about 20% of breast cancers.
- The condition does not usually cause symptoms but can show up on a mammogram, typically as microcalcification clusters.
- DCIS can be treated with surgery, sometimes with radiation and medicine. Chemotherapy is not needed.
- With timely diagnosis and treatment, patients can expect a good outcome.
Fishel is immensely popular among a generation of Boy Meets World fans. But she regained popularity with a younger crowd in 2014 when Disney Channel greenlit the show Girl Meets World.
The new show follows Topanga (Fishel) and Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) in a series that centers around their daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard).