Edwina Bartholomew shares health update after shock cancer diagnosis (2025)

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Edwina Bartholomew has given a very hopeful health update about her recent heartbreaking cancer diagnosis.

The Sunrise star, 41, revealed she had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)—a type of blood and bone marrow cancer—live on air in September.

Now, in a joyful Instagram post on Thursday, the TV presenter has revealed she is nearing 'molecular remission', saying herleukaemia is 'almost undetectable now'.

'I am almost in what they call molecular remission,' she wrote.

'So that means, thanks to my daily medication and my incredible specialist, and also really the gift of time that I've been given by Seven, by working part-time here at Sunrise to focus on my health, the leukaemia has essentially been eradicated from my body to the point that it's almost undetectable now.'

Edwina went on to say she is still required to take medication for at least the 'next few years', but doesn't let that overshadow the 'fantastic news'.

'I still need to take tablets for the next few years. But it is fantastic news, and I do share it this morning knowing lots of people are watching this going through their very own serious cancer battles, so it's not lost on me how extraordinarily lucky I have been,' she said.

It comes after Edwina revealed at Marie Claire's International Women's Day luncheon in Sydney last month just how much the cancer diagnosis has impacted her life.

'I was fortunate that I had a month where I knew about it before I told everyone. I had this experience without having to go through the trauma of chemotherapy,' Edwina began.

'[The cancer] was a gift, because it put things into perspective... I didn't have to go through a really intense experience of being "in" cancer and absorbed by it.'

Edwina added she was extremely grateful her symptoms were manageable and she was able to continue with most of the activities in her daily life.

'I had a meeting with my specialist this week and I forgot to go get my blood test. So, it is not front of mind for me,' she said.

'I am so conscious of what a gift that is, that I have been able to continue on semi-normal... I haven't had to tell my young kids, because I still look the same. It's been a real re-think in slowing myself down.'

Edwina's diagnosis is a 'mild' form of leukaemia and can often be managed without having to undergo chemotherapy and dealing with the disease's more severe symptoms.

The TV presenter shares two young children—Molly, five, and Tom, three—with her husband Neil Varcoe.

In September, Edwina revealed live on-air she had been diagnosed with cancer in a tearful admission.

'I have been diagnosed with cancer. That's a shock and hard to say,' she told viewers.

'It is a really good kind. It is called chronic myeloid leukaemia. It can be treated with a daily tablet. If I can take care of myself, I will be completely fine.'

The veteran TV star then began to break down in tears before telling the audience: 'I thought I could keep it together.'

Edwina went on to reveal her co-star Natalie Barr was to thank for her getting diagnosed as quickly as she had been.

Nat, 57, had her own cancer scare in June, after a routine skin check uncovered skin cancer on her nose, which persuaded Edwina to undergo a full health check at her own doctors.

According to Mayo Clinic, CML is an uncommon type of cancer in the bone marrow and is very slow to progress.

Advances in treatment have improved the prognosis of people with CML and most people diagnosed with it can achieve remission and live for many years.

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