"Desperate Housewives" star Marcia Cross is opening up about the shame around anal cancer. A year ago, Cross was diagnosed with the disease.
Cross tells "CBS This Morning" that both her cancer and her husband's cancer were likely related. Cross' husband, actor Tom Mahoney, 61, was diagnosed in 2009 with throat cancer.
Doctors have told the couple that both of their cancers were triggered by the human papillomavirus also known as HPV.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 5 adults has cancer-causing HPV. Often it goes away, but it can also cause cancer in the anus, cervix, genitals or throat.
Cross, 57, her cancer was discovered during a routine digital rectum exam by her gynecologist.
"I was so not thinking anything was wrong because I didn't have any symptoms, and she gave me an exam and came around and said, 'Well, I just want you to know, whatever it is it's curable,'" Cross said. "It was like 'What? What are you talking about?'"
Immunization prevents the types of HPV that most commonly cause cancer and Cross told "CBS This Morning" that she is planning to get their 12-year-old twin daughters vaccinated.
"I know that there are people who are ashamed," she said. "You have cancer. Should you then also feel like ashamed like you did something bad because it took up residence in your anus?"
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Cross says she was able to get through all of her treatments with the help of a group of friends she calls her "Anal Angels."