Jenna Fischer supported by Christina Applegate after cancer diagnosis

Jenna Fischer revealed that Christina Applegate was one of the first people she called after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

In an interview on the TODAY show that aired Monday, the former “The Office” star detailed her experience battling Stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer. Fischer, 50, revealed her diagnosis in an Oct. 8 post where she said her cancer was detected early through diagnostic imaging and that she is now cancer-free.

Applegate was among the first people she called after receiving her diagnosis, Fischer told TODAY host Hoda Kotb. The Emmy-winning “Dead to Me” star connected Fischer with other survivors to offer a supportive space through their journeys.

“I called her, and she answered the phone, and she said, ‘Which one is it?’ And I said, ‘It’s breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘I effing knew it,'” Fischer recalled of their conversation. “She’s salty. Salty language that one. I love her for it.”

In 2021, Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which she said happened while filming the third season of her Netflix series “Dead to Me.”

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In an X post that year, she told fans “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going.”

Jenna Fischer kept her cancer diagnosis secret while recording podcast

Fischer also opened up about the abundance of support she received from loved ones including her best friend and “Office Ladies” podcast co-host Angela Kinsley. She added that Kinsley helped keep her diagnosis a secret while recording episodes to preserve “a space where we go and we laugh and I’m not a cancer patient.”

“From the beginning, she said, ‘Whatever you need you tell me I’m here.’ And I said I want to keep working and I don’t want anyone to know at work,” Fischer said. “I need that.”

While losing some of her hair during chemotherapy treatment, Fischer wore a wig hat, and hence Kinsley wore a cap in solitude.

“I started by having just a big bald patch down this side of my head. And I would kind of do a real elaborate comb-over,” she added while laughing. “I was like, ‘Oh, I understand why the gentlemen do this now. Yes, I can sort of pretend like that isn’t there for a while.'”

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Jenna Fischer urges women to book ‘annoying’ mammogram

Through the experience, Fischer said she learned to lean on her support system, use humor to cope and appreciate life’s little inconveniences. However, her main takeaway for women watching at home was: “Please don’t skip your mammogram appointment.”

“Please get all the extra screenings that the doctor wants you to get,” Fischer said.

Despite calling the appointment “annoying” to schedule, she credited her exam for her early diagnosis, adding that a self-exam would not have sufficed as the tumor was still too small.

“If I had waited six more months, it could have been much worse. It could have spread. It was a very aggressive form of cancer,” she told Kotb. “It really was that routine mammogram that started all of this. And I’m so grateful that I went to that appointment.”

What is triple-positive breast cancer?

Triple-positive breast cancer, the diagnosis Fischer received, is estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-positive and HER2-positive.

After skin cancer, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among American women, according to the National Cancer Institute. Breast cancer rates have risen by 1% each year over the past decade, and women under 50 have seen the biggest increase in occurrences, the American Cancer Society said in a report released last week.

The Affordable Care Act mandates most insurance companies must cover annual screening mammograms for those 40 and older. Earlier this year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended mammogram screenings every other year from ages 40 to 74 for those with an average risk for breast cancer.

Contributing: KiMi Robinson