Sara Sidner thought her cancer had come back. And for more than two weeks, she lived with the very real possibility that it had spread everywhere.
The veteran CNN anchor revealed on “CNN News Central” that a recent PET scan showed what appeared to be stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, indicating the disease had spread to her hip, spine, liver, and lungs. For Sidner, who had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2023 and announced she was cancer-free in 2024, the news was crushing.
“It indicated I was likely metastatic, stage 4 cancer, incurable,” she told viewers. “I was inconsolable at the time.”
Her mind immediately went to the darkest place imaginable.
“I looked up, ‘How long do I have to live?’ The number came back, less than five years. It knocked the breath out of me, as you might imagine. Then I cried.”
Doctors ordered a biopsy to verify the scan’s findings, leaving Sidner in an agonizing wait. As originally reported, she described those fifteen days as “fifteen days of torture.”
The biopsy, thankfully, told a different story.
“Not cancer,” Sidner said. “The doctor then made very clear, biopsy beats scan. I had a deep, guttural sigh of relief.” A molecular blood test later confirmed the biopsy results.
She learned the news while at work and immediately turned to co-anchor John Berman. “‘Negative,’ I croaked. A lump of tears was in my throat.”
Sidner has never shied away from letting the public see the full reality of her cancer journey. During treatment, she allowed cameras to document chemotherapy ports, radiation burns, and scars from a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She continued appearing on television through hair loss and other visible side effects.
Speaking to PEOPLE Health earlier this year, she explained why she chose such radical transparency. “One in eight women go through this and I’m in the business of showing the truth. This is the truth.”
She also reflected on what the experience did to her sense of self. “It sucked. And there were days where I’m like, ‘Girl, you look ugly as s. I don’t know if anyone can pay attention to what you are saying ’cause you are a hot mess.'” But she added that the ordeal ultimately “freed me from the intense perfectionist nitpicking that I was used to doing to myself.”
Despite the recent scare, Sidner is not slowing down. She announced plans to run the New York City Marathon on November 1 to raise money for cancer research, donating to Memorial Sloan Kettering.
“I am not a runner, don’t even like running,” she admitted. She said she’s doing it in honor of cancer survivors and the researchers “who get no publicity, who just do their work with their beakers and their microscopes.”