More clarification on the sudden passing of actress Kirstie Alley has come out.
According to a rep, shortly before her death at the age of 71, Alley was in a battle with colon cancer.
On Monday, Alley's children, True, 30, and Lillie, 28, released a statement on their mother's official social media accounts, sharing that their mother died following a short battle with cancer.
Alley was surrounded by her closest family members as she succumbed to the disease, which was only recently discovered.
ET spoke with Alley's physician, Dr. Mark Friedman, a specialist at the Moffitt Cancer Center's Gastrointestinal Oncology Department, where the actress was being treated for the disease.
The tricky part about the disease, Friedman says, is that many people can be asymptomatic and still have colon cancer.
"Colon cancer can be a tricky one," Friedman said.
"You can be completely asymptomatic and have colon cancer, which is why in the United States we have a screening program, which is basically a prevention program. We have something set up where you can get tests for completely asymptomatic people to determine if they either, might be at the risk for developing colon cancer or have already developed colon cancer."
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