'It Ends With Us' Author Colleen Hoover Diagnosed With Cancer At 46, Undergoes Radiation Therapy: Tips To Reduce Side Effects

Colleen Hoover shared her cancer battle publicly with a selfie photo in which she was seen wearing a hospital gown, with a grimace and messy hair, noting it is her "second to last day of radiation."

Colleen Hoover, 46, who rose to fame for her book-to-film adaptation "It Ends with Us", is finally opening up about her recent cancer diagnosis in a social media post shared on Monday, January 12. The author took to Instagram to share about her cancer battle publicly with a selfie photo in which she was seen wearing a hospital gown, with a grimace and messy hair, noting it is her "second to last day of radiation." "It Ends With Us" author added, "I wish I could blame my hair and facial expressions on @texas.Oncology, but they've been great. Hope you never need them, but highly recommend them."

Colleen Hoover Health Update: Type Of Cancer

The 46-year-old author first revealed her cancer diagnosis in a private Facebook post in December 2025. Colleen Hoover Health Update was then reshared multiple times on social media platforms, in which she mentioned that she had put off "recurring health issues" while she was filming her book-to-film adaptation "Reminders of Him". And returning from the filming in Canada, the author received her diagnosis. The author has not revealed the type of cancer she has been diagnosed with, but she believes that it is linked with "a lack of exercise, poor diet and stress."

What Is Radiation Therapy?

Radiation therapy is a popular cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink cancerous tumours. This treatment helps to slow down the growth of cancer cells by damaging their DNA or repair stop dividing. And when the damaged cells die, they are broken down and removed by the body.

"Radiation therapy does not kill cancer cells right away. It takes days or weeks of treatment before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after radiation therapy ends," the National Institute of Health (NIH) explains. The US health agency notes that there are different types of radiation therapy, i.e, external beam and internal. It further notes that the type of radiation therapy you may have depends on many factor including:

• Type of cancer
• Size of the tumor
• Tumour's location in the body
• How close the tumour is to normal tissues that are sensitive to radiation
• General health and medical history
• Whether you will have other types of cancer treatment
• Age and other medical conditions

Radiation Side Effects

It is important to understand that radiation not only kills cancer cells, but it can also affect nearby healthy cells, resulting in side effects. The side effects of radiation therapy depend on the part of the body treated. Regardless of the body parts that got treated, some of the common radiation therapy side effects include fatigue, hair loss, skin changes, etc.

Tips To Reduce Side Effects

Despite its benefits, radiation therapy has many side effects. Follow these simple tips to help you alleviate the symptoms of post-recovery:

• Drink plenty of water to flush out toxins from your system
• Follow gentle skincare to alleviate radiation-induced skin changes
• Ensure to consumed nutrient dense-food
• Rest properly to support the healing process
• Stay physically active to combat fatigue