Marcia Cross says HPV may have caused cancer for her and her husband

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Marcia Cross recognizes that her annual rectal exam saved her life.

The 57-year-old star of "Desperate Housewives" opened Wednesday with "CBS This Morning" about her shocking anal cancer diagnosis a year and a half ago. She recently discovered that she could be linked to her husband's fight against throat cancer in 2009.

"I did not think anything was wrong because I had no symptoms," recalls Cross on his way to his regular visit to the gynecologist. "She did me an exam and came out saying," Well, I just want you to know, no matter what it is, it's curable. "It was like:" What ?! What are you talking about?" "

The doctor had found a cancerous mass in his anus.

Related: Marcia Cross spoke of the diagnosis that "shake the stigma surrounding anal cancer"

Marcia Cross is working to eliminate the stigma of an anal cancer diagnosis: "Do you have cancer? Do you also need to be ashamed?" (Photo: Jordan Strauss, Invision for Leica)

Doctors suspect that Cross anal cancer and cancer of her husband's throat Tom Mahoney are due to the same type of human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, that can be transmitted through sexual intercourse or skin contact. skin.

Fortunately, Cross and Mahoney are both in remission. They plan to vaccinate their 12-year-old twin girls – Eden and Savannah – against HPV in the coming weeks.

"My daughters do not know it, but they are ready for their first test at the end of the school year," Cross said.

Related: The star of "Desperate Housewives" Marcia Cross is "happy to be alive" after struggling against anal cancer