Julia Bradbury appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (Image: ITV)
ITV presenter has opened up on her cancer battle as she admitted that an ultrasound could have saved her life. The star appeared on to chat to hosts and Ed Balls about her health woes.
She explained that cancer in her breast had been missed twice on a mammogram due to having “dense breasts”. It was only when a doctor offered an ultrasound instead that the lump she had felt previously was determined to be cancer.
Speaking to the GMB hosts, Julia, 54, explained: “[Dense breast] makes it very difficult to detect cancer on mammograms. On that type of imaging because dense breasts show up white on that type of imaging and cancer tumours show up white.
“So the description given by many medics is ‘it’s like looking for a snowball in a snowstorm’. So I had a lump, I had a self check which I encourage you to do.
“So I had a lump but two mammograms later they said ‘no, it’s benign it’s nothing to worry about’. It was on a third visit to my consultant where it was an accidental ‘let me just give you an ultrasound before we let you go off for another year’.”
Ed Balls and Susanna Reid chatted to Julia (Image: ITV)
She continued: “So I did that and he spotted it on an ultrasound because ultrasound is better with dense breasts.”
Susanna asked: “If it had of been missed that third time, what would have happened?” Julia replied: “Well, if it had of been missed that third time then I might not have been here.”
She added other possibilities, saying: “I might have been going through much more severe treatment now, perhaps. You know, your mind races as to what might happen.”
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Julia opened up on her cancer battle (Image: ITV)
Julia was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, but is now in remission. Explaining the changes she had made to her life following the diagnosis, she told The Times Weekend magazine: “I wasn’t close to death, but death looked me in the eyes. So I am more focused on my health than I ever have been.
“I don’t drink, I eat a healthy diet and exercise every day. When I came home from my mastectomy, I promised I would spend time outside every day, and that is my mantra, however poor it might be in this sh*tty winter.”
The presenter previously discussed her experience in an ITV documentary, Julia Bradbury: Breast Cancer And Me, which followed her as she came to terms with her diagnosis and prepared to undergo her single mastectomy.