‘The Pitt’ Star Katherine LaNasa Says Early Breast Cancer Detection Saved Her Life

Katherine LaNassa. Photo by Emily Sandifer Emmy winner Katherine LaNasa, who plays Nurse Dana on The Pitt, was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer following a routine mammogram. LaNasa underwent surgery and radiation treatment before landing her role on the hit medical drama. Now cancer-free, LaNasa is encouraging women to get regular mammograms and understand their personal breast cancer risk. Emmy winner Katherine LaNasa may be best known for her beloved role as “Nurse Dana” on the acclaimed HBO Max series The Pitt; however, before caring for patients on screen, she lived through her own health journey. In February 2023, at 59 years old, LaNasa learned she had stage 1 breast cancer after a routine mammogram. “I felt like I looked better than ever,” LaNasa told Healthline. “I think that’s the one thing — we can’t just rely on our intuition about our body when it comes to breast cancer. We really have to get that screening, because I would have never thought anything was wrong with me.” Only 1 in 2 eligible women gets mammograms annually. Francisco Esteva, MD, chief of hematology & medical oncology at Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital, said this is a heartbreaking statistic. “It is…

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