Further treatment for Kylie but no return of cancer

Published on 14/01/2006 01:07

KYLIE Minogue is still receiving treatment following her breast cancer diagnosis, but there has been no recurrence of the disease, her publicist said yesterday.

A statement issued in response to reports that the 37-year-old had been given the all-clear said that the singer wanted to return to work, but "at this point in time Kylie's treatments are continuing".

Friends say the star, who was undergoing treatment in Paris, is now back in Australia with her family.

Yesterday it was reported that Minogue had her final chemo- therapy session on 18 December last year.

She then received test results last Friday which showed there were no more cancerous cells, according to the report.

Minogue was expected to start daily radiation treatment to prevent the return of the disease, and only after another six months would she be officially in remission and given the all-clear, the report said.

Minogue's publicist said yesterday: "On May 21st last year, Kylie's surgeon announced that the operation to remove the cancer was successful.

"Since that time, Kylie has been undergoing treatments to prevent a return of the cancer.

"Kylie remains keen to return to work and in particular to re-schedule the Showgirl tour of Australia."

It was just before that part of the world tour that the star's cancer was discovered.

The statement added: "Fortunately we are still able to say we have received no news of a recurrence of the cancer; however, at this point in time Kylie's treatments are continuing."

The singer had been undergoing chemotherapy in Paris after having a partial mastectomy in Melbourne, Australia, in May, after she found a lump in her left breast.

Australian music guru Ian "Molly" Meldrum, a friend of Minogue, told Australia's 7 Network: "I had heard just before I left to go overseas that in fact Kylie was coming back to Australia, to Melbourne, to spend time with the family and that basically the chemo had finished."

Mr Meldrum added: "The treatment was quite severe and probably Kylie was a lot sicker than most of us thought.

"But now, obviously, she is coming home for a little while and, as I say, the chemo is finished and I guess that she is now well on her way to recovery."

An EMI spokesman yesterday declined to say where the singer was or whether she was about to start radiation treatment.

Minogue first rose to fame in the 1980s as an actress in the popular Australian soap opera Neighbours, before leaving to launch her pop career. She has had 37 hit singles in the UK.

Her singing career flagged during the 1990s, but she has since successfully reinvented herself as a pop diva.

She opened the Showgirl tour in March with five nights at Glasgow's SECC, and then played dates across Europe before cancelling scheduled shows in Sydney and around Australia.

Minogue is worth about 26 million, according to a 2004 list of rich, young Australians.