Olivia Munn says free test found her breast cancer despite no symptoms
ABC NEWS — Olivia Munn says she had no symptoms before she took a risk assessment test that helped detect her Stage 1 breast cancer, and she has since been urging other women to take it.
The actress, who revealed in an Instagram post in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer the previous year, said she had “no symptoms” before her diagnosis.
“And I had a clear mammogram and a clear ultrasound,” she told CBS Sunday Morning.
However, in April 2023, Munn learned she had Stage 1 breast cancer after taking the Lifetime Risk Assessment test, a free online questionnaire that takes just minutes to complete and estimates a person’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, using personal information such as age, family history of breast cancer, date of first menstruation, and whether or not you’ve ever given birth, according to the National Institutes of Health.
While the tool may help a doctor estimate your breast cancer risk, it cannot tell you whether or not you will get breast cancer.
Munn said her score was 37.3%, above the 20% high-risk threshold that typically prompts a recommendation for additional breast cancer screening or diagnostic tests.
After her diagnosis, Munn underwent a double mastectomy, an ovariectomy and a partial hysterectomy. She said her risk score is now zero.
She later shared her story publicly to raise awareness about the risk assessment test.
“Knowing that it’s really changed so many people’s lives. It’s been the most amazing thing,” she said. “There’s no way I could have ever predicted it.”
Munn also said her husband, comedian John Mulaney, whom she married in 2024, has been one of her biggest supporters throughout her journey.
“There’s no better person in the world to me than my husband,” she shared. “He wanted to come to every single doctor’s appointment. He had his little notebook. You know? And he’s got his notebook that he writes all of his ideas for jokes and anything that comes to him through the day.”
His humor also helped her through recovery: “Having someone who’s so funny, it really — it just lightens everything,” she said.
Munn and her husband share two children, Malcolm, 4, and Mei Mei, who will turn 2 this fall.
Munn said becoming a parent and facing a cancer diagnosis changed the way she sees time, teaching her to slow down and appreciate the small, everyday moments.
“I say it’s not the Christmases and the birthdays and the New Year’s that we remember,” Munn said. “Like, life happens on a Tuesday. Like, it just happens. And you cannot expect it. And so every day, you should just be so present and grateful.”
“And once you are faced with the possibility of death and not being here, it’s — for me, all I wanted were the little moments,” she added.
This risk assessment is a widely avaialble tool online, but doctors urge anyone who is worried about their breast cancer risk to talk to thier healthcare provider, rather than try to evaluate it on their own, as there may be other things beyond the tool’s input to consider.
A provider will also be able to discuss the results, potentially offer further diagnostic testing/screening, or may recommend other ways to better estimate cancer risk.
