Busy Philipps, known for her role in "Cougar Town," revealed she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor after undergoing a Prenuvo body scan that her primary care doctor initially said she didn’t need. The 47-year-old actress shared in a recent interview with People magazine the moment her doctor informed her of the diagnosis, which came the day after her "Dawson's Creek" co-star James Van Der Beek passed away from colorectal cancer.

Philipps was diagnosed with a grade 2 oligodendroglioma, a type of brain tumor that Alexandra Miller, Philipps’s neuro-oncologist at NYU Langone, told People affects approximately 1,100 to 1,300 people annually in the United States. Miller explained that while the tumor is considered malignant, it has the best prognosis among malignant gliomas and is defined by its ability to regrow over time rather than its appearance under a microscope.

Philipps recounted the moment her doctor told her, "This is a real tumor and it's inside your brain and Busy, it's got to come out." John Golfinos of NYU Langone scheduled a five-hour surgery for March 2, during which surgeons removed a 2.6-centimeter mass from her brain.

The diagnosis followed Philipps expressing interest in a Prenuvo scan to her cousin’s husband, a doctor in Los Angeles, despite her primary care doctor telling her in 2025, "You're super healthy. We've done all this other blood work. We've done like all kinds of tests. You're super healthy. There's no need for you to get one."

Philipps described the shock of hearing the diagnosis, recalling, "I can hear that you're not breathing.' And I was like, 'Just tell me what's happening.' And he's like, 'This isn't any of those other things that they said it could be."

Sources