Monica Guerritore reveals she completed six cycles of chemotherapy after a tumour was found in April

Discovery and treatment

In mid-April 2026, during a routine check-up, Italian actress Monica Guerritore learned that her CA125 tumour marker was elevated. She immediately contacted her oncologist, Professor Cortesi, and began chemotherapy a few days later. The first session took place the day before she left for Nice, where she was due to rehearse Puccini's Le Villi. The opera ran from 24 to 30 April at the Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur, with Guerritore as narrator. She completed all six cycles of chemotherapy, and the abnormal marker returned to normal.

“Now I have finished all six chemo sessions and everything went very well, thanks to the extraordinary skill of our doctors.”

Working through treatment

Despite the diagnosis, Guerritore did not cancel any professional commitments. The day after her first chemo session, she travelled to France with her husband, Roberto Zaccaria. The music and staging of Puccini, she said, distracted her from the illness. After returning to Rome, she faced a packed schedule from May to July, presenting her directorial debut film Anna, about Anna Magnani, at festivals and summer arenas across Italy. Her husband noted that their car covered 23,000 km during the promotion.

“Not for a moment did I think of giving up. I told myself 'I'll make it' and I left.”

Hiding the illness

The most difficult moment came when her hair began to fall out. Three weeks after returning to Rome, the first locks started to go. She hugged her husband and cried. To continue public appearances without revealing her condition, she wore a wig with a fringe and an unusual cut. She said she had to go on without letting anything show, because the focus had to remain on the film, not on her.

“As a good actress, I hid behind a wig with a fringe and a strange haircut what was happening to me.”

Awards and public appearances

During this period, Anna received several awards, including the Nastro d'Argento and the Globo d'Oro for the foreign press special prize. Guerritore attended ceremonies feeling self-conscious and afraid of photographers' flashes and colleagues' glances. She found unexpected support from those around her, who showed respect and delicacy.

“I felt strange, embarrassed. I gritted my teeth and went. I want to thank them for having so much respect and delicacy. I felt my world was supportive, close.”

Gratitude and reflection

Guerritore thanked her family: her husband, who stayed by her side day and night, and her daughters, who brought her coffee in a thermos, though she joked she would have preferred a gin tonic. She had faced a tumour before, in 2006, when she was operated on by Professor Umberto Veronesi without needing chemotherapy. Reflecting on the experience, she said love is everything for those facing illness. She also expressed gratitude to those who understood something was different but simply smiled and talked about other things, calling the solidarity and humanity of people a gift that exists.