Meghan McCain speaks out about breast cancer ‘scare’
Meghan McCain is pleading with women to undergo their regular, preventative health screenings.
“I had to get a mass in my breast biopsied last week and just got the news the test came back benign,” McCain, 40, wrote on social media, also mentioning Pap smears in the caption. “I can’t tell you how blessed, lucky and relieved I am but for any woman who follows this account or my work, PLEASE get your mammograms!!!”
She went on to stress the importance of women like herself, who are 40 and over, going through the procedure regularly. The American Cancer Society says that women 40 to 44 at an average risk of breast cancer “have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year,” because early detection often means a better chance of survival. The organization recommends that women 45 to 54 have mammograms annually, while those 55 and older “can switch to a mammogram every other year.”
The former View cohost’s family has been affected by cancer in the past.
Her father, late Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, died of the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma in 2018, one year after being diagnosed. He was 81.
During a 2017 appearance on The View, President Joe Biden, who was then a former vice president, had a tearful encounter with her on the talk show. Biden’s son Beau had died of the same disease in 2015.
“Look, one of the things that gave Beau courage, my word, was John,” the elder Biden said. “You may remember, you were a little kid, your dad took care of my Beau. Beau talked about your dad’s courage — not about illness, but his courage.” He added, “If any of you have somebody that’s been diagnosed with glioblastoma, which is as bad as it gets, there’s breakthroughs that are happening occurring now. It can happen tomorrow … There is hope. If anybody can make it, it’s your dad. Her dad is one of my best friends.”
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
McCain was on The View for four years, from 2017 to 2021. She wrote in her 2021 book, Bad Republican, that she opted to leave following an on-air argument with cohost Joy Behar on her second day back from maternity leave. Behar said she hadn’t missed her at all.
“It is one of the most singular feelings of loneliness and anguish I have felt in my entire life,” she wrote, per the AP. “It was a perfect storm of hormones, postpartum anxiety and a lot of demons on The View coming out to bite me.”
She and husband Ben Domenech have since welcomed their second daughter.
