Busy Philipps has revealed that she went through multiple rounds of surgery after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumour earlier this year.
The former late night host opened up about the diagnosis for the first time in a new interview with People, revealing that she was “grateful to be alive” after the “weirdest six months of my life”.
Discovery of the Tumour
Philipps’ tumour, which was malignant but had a very good prognosis, was discovered during a full body MRI scan she underwent in February, one day after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek’s death from cancer aged 48.
Philipps, 47, had considered postponing the appointment due to her busy schedule, until her ex-husband and friend Marc Silverstein told her that getting the scan would be “the best you could do for your friend (Van Der Beek) this morning”.
Diagnosis and Surgery
The scan found a tumour in Philipps’ brain, and while her doctor was able to rule out a glioblastoma (an aggressive and incurable cancerous tumour), a follow-up MRI revealed that it needed to be removed.
The Girls5eva star recalled her doctor telling her “this is a real tumour, and it’s inside your brain. And Busy, it’s got to come out”. “I was hyperventilating and trying to breathe,” she said.
The tumour was revealed to be an oligodendroglioma, a form of tumour that only 1,100 to 1,300 people per year in the US are diagnosed to be.
While technically malignant, the oligodendroglioma has the best prognosis of all the types of malignant glioma; mother-of-two Philipps caught hers early, whereas it could have been much harder to remove if it tripled in size and had caused her to have seizures.
Recovery and Loss
However, the incision site ended up getting infected, meaning Philipps had surgery, explaining: “The second surgery really threw me. I just felt like I was back to square one, and I was really, really upset.”
Earlier this year, comedian Philipps lost her Dawson’s Creek co-star Van Der Beek following his own cancer diagnosis. The father-of-six was diagnosed with bowel cancer in the latter half of 2023 but only revealed the news in November 2024.
Mourning Van Der Beek on Instagram, Philipps wrote: “My heart is deeply hurting for all of us today… every person who knew James and loved him, anyone who loved his work or had the pleasure of meeting him, all of his dear friends and community that surrounded him as he battled this illness, especially his parents and brother and sister.”
“James Van Der Beek was one in a billion and he will be forever missed and I don’t know what else to say. I am just so so sad. He was my friend and I loved him and I’m so grateful for our friendship all these years.”
