Jane Fonda, the 72-year old Oscar-winning actress turned fitness guru has confirmed she had a scare with non-invasive breast cancer; she has had a small tumor removed and says she is now cancer free.

On her blog on Thursday, Fonda said recent press reports that she had been diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer were correct, but added “it is ALL OUT NOW!!!”

Fonda describes herself as “lucky”, because “we got it early” and because it was non-invasive. She thanked all her friends and fans whose “beautiful” letters have meant a lot to her.

According to Entertainment Tonight, Fonda discovered she had breast cancer a few weeks ago when a small tumor was found during a routine checkup: it was removed during a procedure a few days ago, and she says she in now “cancer free”.

Fonda, who is also a political activist and former model, came to fame in the 1960s when she starred in the films Cat Ballou and Barbarella. In 1971 she starred in Klute, for which she received her first Best Actress Academy Award.

During this period she was also an active political campaigner, supporting the Civil Rights Movement and opposing the Vietnam War.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Fonda turned to fitness, and released more than 20 workout videos, many of which were later converted to DVD.

These days, Fonda focuses her energies on human rights, the empowerment of women and girls, and environmental issues, although she is still producing new fitness videos and is due to star in a new film coming out next year Peace, Love And Understanding, co-starring Rosanna Arquette and Chase Crawford.

In 1994, she was named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund; in 1995 she founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention; and in 2001 she founded the Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health at Emory University.

Fonda also serves on the board of several organizations aimed at helping women, for example she is a member of the Women & Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The breast cancer scare coincides with her current efforts to promote her new Primetime Fitness DVDs, which will hit stores at the end of this month.

In a recent guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show on 27 October, Fonda was asked: “do you feel as great as you look?”

She replied, “Yes, I think it’s just getting better”.

She said once we get into our 50s, we tend to get happier and less anxious, life “gets better and easier”, partly because of the wisdom one acquires along the way.

“One part of wisdom is knowing what you don’t need anymore and letting it go,” Fonda told Winfrey.

“We don’t have to keep going back there. Been there, done that. I survived. I can do it again,” she said.

Hopefully, she can now put the cancer behind her too.

Sources: Jane Fonda official website, Oprah Winfrey Show, Entertainment Tonight, Daily Mail, California Museum Hall of Fame.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD