Tina Knowles Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis After Missing Mammogram
Tina Knowles is using her platform to deliver a powerful reminder about the importance of prioritizing your health.
In a new interview with PEOPLE for its World’s Most Beautiful issue, the 71-year-old “matriarch” revealed that she was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer last July—a discovery that came after she unknowingly missed a crucial mammogram appointment.
“It's important not to slack on your mammogram,” Knowles shared. “If I had not gotten my test early, I mean, I shudder to think what could have happened to me.”
The fashion designer explained that her scheduled mammogram was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she mistakenly believed she had rescheduled it. “I forgot that I didn’t go to get my test two years before I thought I had,” she continued. “So you cannot play around with that.”
The entrepreneur, who was finishing her memoir and assisting with the launch of Cécred hair care line at the time of her diagnosis, initially struggled with whether to share her cancer journey publicly.
“I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think it’s a lot of lessons in it for other women,” she shared. “Sometimes we get so busy and so wrapped up in running around, but you must go get your test.”
Her daughter, Solange, reassured her, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.” “My girls became my team,” Knowles wrote.
Although her ex-husband, Mathew Knowles, previously battled breast cancer and carries the BRCA2 gene mutation, the author shared that she does not have the breast cancer genes and that there is no history of the disease on her side of the family.
Late last year, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor and also opted for a breast reduction. Today, she says she’s “doing great. Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”
