Tina Knowles has opened up about daughter Beyonce’s reaction to herbreast cancer diagnosis last year.
The 71-year-old, who is set to release her new memoir Matriarch, opened up about her health issues in a new interview, sharing that she was blindsided by the diagnosis.
She explained that doctors discovered stage 1 cancer in her left breast last July, after she missed her scheduled mammogram – and is using her platform to urge other women to get tested.
In her book, the matriarch – also mom to Solange Knowles – shed light on how her daughters dealt with the news.
She wrote, in an extract via Today, that Beyonce ‘took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.
‘She would find me the top specialist, and I distinctively remember her telling me, “I want you to get a second opinion on whatever the course of treatment is,”’ she penned, via Today.
The Halo singer ‘lined up one of the top breast surgery specialists in the country’ for her mother to get a private consultation, and moved her into her family home with husband Jay-Z, as well as children Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir.
‘Mom, we are going to take care of this,’ Solange told her, as Kelly Rowland and her other family members quickly rallied around and ‘became my team.’
Tina gave her daughters a sweet shout-out in her speech at the Glamour 2024 Women of the Year event in October, with her words now taking on a deeper meaning.
‘”They are my crew, my tribe, my rocks, my ride-or-dies,”‘ she recalled telling the crowd. ‘They have been right there by my side at the lowest points in my life…
‘They cheered me on at the highest points of my life. Making me feel that I can conquer anything.
‘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.’
Tina was diagnosed with cancer after missing her routine screening during the Covid-19 pandemic – she didn’t reschedule her appointment until last year.
It was at that appointment that doctors found two tumors – CBS reports that one was benign and the other had stage 1 cancer.
She was later told that, had she kept up with her routine mammograms, they may have been able to detect the cancer at Stage 0.
According to Cancer Research UK, Stage 0 is a pre invasive breast cancer – meaning the cancer cells are in the breast ducts and have not started to spread into the surrounding breast tissue.
Stage 1 breast cancer is an ‘early stage breast cancer’ and ‘means that the cancer is small and only in the breast tissue or it might be found in lymph nodes close to the breast’.
‘It’s important not to slack on your mammograms,’ she told People Magazine, sharing that she initially ‘struggled’ with whether to include her battles in her book because of her private nature.
‘But I decided to share it because I think it’s a lot of lessons in it for other women.
Breast cancer symptoms
The first symptom of breast cancer that most women notice is a lump or an area of thickened tissue in their breast.
You should see a GP if you notice any of the following:
- a new lump or area of thickened tissue in either breast that was not there before
- a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- a discharge of fluid from either of your nipples
- a lump or swelling in either of your armpits
- a change in the look or feel of your skin, such as puckering or dimpling, a rash or redness
- a rash (like eczema), crusting, scaly or itchy skin or redness on or around your nipple
- a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast
‘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.’
Tina had surgery to remove the tumor last August, and also underwent a breast reduction – with her loved ones remaining by her side throughout her ordeal.
‘I was nervous,’ she told Gayle King on CBS News. ‘And so they started just joking with me.
‘I start laughing. I get out of my head. … Then I said, “I’m just so happy that y’all are here”. And I thought about the song Walk With Me, which they used to sing all the time.’
It was this poignant track that her family, including niece Angie Beyincé, sang to Tina before her lumpectomy.
Giving an update on her health, she added to People: ‘I’m doing great.
‘Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.
‘I want to give people hope … What scares me now is not making the best of every day that I have left in this life.’
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.