The actress will undergo a double mastectomy.
Victoria Ekanoye, who played Angie Appleton on the the soap Coronation Street, has shared the news that she has breast cancer.
Ekanoye has said that while the outlook is “positive”, she feels scared as she cannot anticipate the future.
In an interview with OK! Magazine, the 39-year-old actress explained that she was initially given the all clear after discovering a lump in her breast while breast-feeding her baby son Theo. However, further testing, scans and biopsies later confirmed that she had breast cancer.
She told the publication that she might not have discovered the lump had it not been for breast-feeding.
Victoria said: “This is going to sound so cheesy, but I almost feel like having Theo and breastfeeding him has saved me.
“Had I never been fortunate enough to be able to breastfeed, those lumps would never have come up the way they did.”
Victoria will undergo a double mastectomy, which her doctors hope will cure the cancer. Otherwise, she will need chemotherapy.
She told the magazine that after a difficult birth, she was shocked to have another major medical issue.
The actress said: “It feels unfair. It’s already so hard being a parent. When this happened I just thought, ‘Can we get a bit of a break please!'”
She continued: “I feel a bit overwhelmed and I’m scared because, as optimistic as the outlook is, you can’t predict the future.
“I just want to be here. I’ve got a life to live and a family to look after.”
Victoria also spoke about how the recent death of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding prompted her to seek a second and third medical opinion regarding her lump.
She said: “We’re the same age. It was really alarming for me, as it was for everyone. And so sad. Really sad.
“If anything, it made me determined to get to the bottom of things with my health.”
