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Gay news: She revealed her diagnosis to encourage other women to attend screenings
Navratilova: "It lknocked me on my ass"
Lesbian tennis legend Navratilova has breast cancer
Martina Navratilova has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 53-year-old former tennis champion said that the disease had been detected early thanks to a routine mammogram in February, but warned others of the dangers of neglecting regular screening.
"I cried. It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it's completely out of my hands," she told People magazine.
"I went four years between mammograms. I let it slide. Everyone gets busy, but don't make excuses.
"I stay in shape and eat right, and it happened to me. Another year and I could have been in big trouble."
Navratilova has since had a lumpectomy and will begin six weeks of radiation therapy in May, but her prognosis is excellent and she plans to have the rest of her treatment in Paris, where she will commentate at the French Open.
She said she had not intended to reveal her diagnosis but had been persuaded to do so to encourage other women to attend screenings.
During her career she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, nine of them at Wimbledon, and sensationally came out in 1981 at the height of her success.
In 2000, her work as a gay rights activist won her the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, America's largest gay and lesbian lobbying group.
