Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley has shared the reason why she will refuse to have a cancer screening, even though her mother passed away from the disease.
Lisa, 47, plays Mandy Dingle in the popular ITV soap and saw her on-screen family being warned they could carry a cancer-causing gene meaning they should be tested as soon as possible on Wednesday’s episode of the show.
In contrast to the Dingle family on Emmerdale, Lisa said she will opt out of a cancer screening after her mother, Cath, passed away from breast cancer aged 58 in 2012.
The actress added that her family have a history of being diagnosed with cancer, as both her two great-grandmothers had breast cancer, while she lost three grandparents to other forms of the disease.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: ‘Awareness is very important and I do have an elective mammogram every year for my peace of mind, but not having the test is my choice’.
Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley has shared the reason why she will refuse to have a cancer screening, despite her mother passing away from the illness, (pictured together in 2001)
The actress (pictured playing Mandy Dingle) added that her family have a history of being diagnosed with the illness, because both her two great-grandmothers had breast cancer
‘I don’t want to be that person that lives with that for the rest of my life. I know people will judge me on that, but you’ve got to walk a day in my shoes.’
Despite her choice not to take a cancer screening, Lisa still said she was behind the show’s plot of making audiences aware of a faulty cancer gene.
‘It’s my business, in that [people] don’t know what it’s like to be me and live with the gene pool that I live with, that I wake up with and go to sleep with every single day and night.
‘I love the fact that we are portraying this on telly as many people still might not be aware of the faulty gene. It’s wonderful to know that we will be teaching the audience about it, but personally, I don’t want to know.’
In last Wednesday’s episode, Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), informed the Dingle family she had been tested and had inherited the faulty BRCA2 gene which has caused her breast cancer.
She also warned the rest of the Dingle family to get tested in case they had the same gene.
Famously highlighted by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are faulty genes that significantly raise the risk of woman developing breast and ovarian cancer.
These faulty genes also increase the risk of men developing male breast cancer and prostate or pancreatic cancer.
Most women in the UK have a 15% chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime, a statistic that rises to 40-85% for women with the faulty BRCA2 gene and 65-85% for women with the faulty BRCA1 gene.
There is also a 50% chance that anyone with this gene could pass it on to their children.
Lisa, an ambassador for the charity Breast Cancer Now, supports onscreen cousin Chas through her cancer battle but admitted that filming scenes with issues so close to her heart has been difficult.
‘It’s sadly a story close to my heart and it has massively affected me,’ she stated.
Lisa, an ambassador for the charity Breast Cancer Now, supports onscreen cousin Chas Dingle played by Lucy Parteger (pictured) through her cancer battle but admitted filming was tough
