Ananda Lewis, the former MTV V.J., revealed during a CNN round-table discussion shared online on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, which progressed and metastasized to Stage 4 last year.
In a subsequent phone interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, the 51-year-old Lewis shared that she has resumed treatment and is feeling significantly better. She expressed optimism, stating, “I’ve turned it around really beautifully.”
Lewis gained fame in the 1990s as the host of “Teen Summit,” a popular BET program designed to address current issues facing Black teenagers. In 1996, she interviewed then-First Lady Hillary Clinton on the show. She also hosted “Hot Zone” on MTV, where she engaged with celebrities and offered style tips. A 1999 profile in The Times recognized her as one of MTV’s biggest stars and noted her status as “the hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl.”
Stage 4 breast cancer indicates that cancer has metastasized beyond the breast, potentially affecting the bones, lungs, and liver. While treatments such as chemotherapy and hormone therapy are available, this stage of cancer is deemed incurable. Breast cancer ranks as the second most prevalent cancer among women in the United States and remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide.