Tina Knowles Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis And Reminds People Not To ‘Slack On Mammograms’ – Essence

Tina Knowles revealed that she battled breast cancer. The 71-year-old learned she had stage 1 breast cancer in her left breast in July 2024. She learned about her diagnosis around the time she launched the Cécred hair care line with her daughter Beyoncé.

“It’s important not to slack on your mammograms,” she said during an interview with PEOPLE. The author also revealed that she missed a mammogram. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women between the ages of 40 and 74 who are at average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every 2 years, but it’s also possible to get one annually.

“I forgot that I didn’t go to get my test two years before I thought I had,” she said, “because Covid came and they called me and canceled me and they said, we’ll call you when we start testing again. And I just thought I had done it. So you cannot play around with that.”

Tina revealed the news about her encounter with breast cancer in her memoir Matriarch, which released April 22nd.

“I struggled with whether I would share that journey [in the book] because I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think it’s a lot of lessons in it for other women,” she says. “And I think as women, sometimes we get so busy and we get so wrapped up and running around, but you must go get your test. Because if I had not gotten my test early, I mean, I shudder to think what could have happened to me.”

While the news of a loved one having cancer can be debilitating, Knowles said her daughters had a pragmatic reaction to hearing about her diagnosis. 

She said Beyoncé “took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.” Tina’s second child, Solange said, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.” Additionally, Kelly Rowland who is close to the matriarch and her niece Angie Beyince were also by her side. “My girls became my team,” she wrote in the newly released book. 

Thankfully, the fashion designer underwent surgery last year to remove the tumor and also got a breast reduction. 

“I’m doing great,” she said. “Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”

Knowles wants women to remember to get regular screenings–early detection is key. 

“I didn’t know that there was a stage 0. I could have caught this at stage 0 if I had not missed my mammogram,” she said. 

The superstar mom also wants people ot know you can go through challenging health scares and still come out on top: “I want to show people you can go through that and still be fly.”

Nowadays, the 71-year-old is doing and feeling well. 

“I’m healthier, eating better, I lost weight,” she told PEOPLE. 

“I want to give people hope,” Knowles added. “What scares me now is not making the best of every day that I have left in this life.”