Delta Goodrem reflects on her heartbreaking cancer battle at just 18

Delta Goodrem reflects on her heartbreaking cancer battle after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at just 18: ‘I was a young girl who had to fight for my life’

Delta Goodrem is looking back on her brave cancer battle 20 years on.

The Australian singer was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma on July 8, 2003, when she was only 18 years old.

In a recent interview, Delta opened up about the tough battle she faced as a teenager.

‘I was a young girl with doctors explaining that I had to step into a fight for my life,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

The same week Delta, now 38, received her diagnosis, her debut album Innocent Eyes topped the music charts.

Delta Goodrem is looking back on her brave cancer battle 20 years on. Pictured in February

‘I was diagnosed with cancer the same week that I debuted around the world,’ she added.

‘I am so grateful that 20 years later we are here making music. It is quite a moment.’

The Born to Try hitmaker was unable to tour her debut album due to undergoing treatment for her cancer.

The Australian singer was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma on July 8, 2003, when she was only 18 years old. Pictured in 2003

 In a recent interview, Delta opened up about the tough battle she faced as a teenager

She said she’d thrilled to finally be able to tour the Innocent Eyes album, and perform songs ‘in that chapter’ that fans never got to hear live.

What is Hodgkin’s lymphoma?

Hodgkin’s is a cancer of the lymphatic system that carries white blood cells throughout the body to fight infection. It usually affects groups of lymph nodes.

The lymph nodes in the neck are the most common site of cancerous tumours in Hodgkin’s, but they can also be found in the armpit, chest, groin and abdomen.

The cancer can spread through the body via the lymphatic system and affect the bones and organs such as the liver, lungs and spleen.

‘That record had stayed number one for eight months and I had never got to play some of these songs live. This is a full circle moment.’

Delta has opened up about her fight with cancer and how it affected her life numerous times in the past. 

In a moving interview with WHO magazine in 2020, she said of the diagnosis: ‘It was like a bomb had gone off.’

‘I remember that when I was first told I had cancer, my body went into shock and I shook uncontrollably for the next 24 hours,’ Delta added.

Delta lost her hair due to chemotherapy and said the changes to her physical appearance were ‘confronting’.

She went through a year of cancer treatment.

This included eight months of chemotherapy and two months of radiotherapy.

‘It was very hard to feel beautiful in an external sense – my skin colour had a green tinge to it, there was a lot of steroid effects and it was hard to feel good,’ Delta said.

After beating cancer, Delta said that her health remains her priority.

The Born to Try hitmaker was unable to tour her debut album due to undergoing treatment for her cancer. Pictured in 2003

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