'Shopaholic' Author Sophie Kinsella Says She Has Brain Cancer

The author of the bestselling book series said she is undergoing treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, after a diagnosis in 2022 .

Sophie Kinsella, the bestselling English author of the “Shopaholic” book series, revealed on social media on Wednesday that she was undergoing treatment for a form aggressive and often fatal to the brain. cancer.

Kinsella said she was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022, but waited to make the diagnosis public so her children could "hear and processing the news privately and adapting to our “new normal.” She added that her condition was stable following a successful operation and ongoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy at University College Hospital in London.

Kinsella, whose real name is Madeleine Wickham, wrote a series of bestselling novels, beginning with "Confessions of a Shopaholic" in 2000, about a New York financial journalist with a strong shopping addiction. About a decade later, a film starring Isla Fisher, based on the original novel and a sequel, was released.

Since the runaway success of the first novel, nine Sequels following the life of protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood were released, earning Kinsella, 54, a loyal following and a dominant position among romantic comedy book authors.

Kinsella said reader response to her latest novel, "The Burnout," had "sustained" her during a difficult period of treatment. The novel, about a couple of exhausted office workers who meet in a rundown British seaside resort, was published last year.

Glioblastoma is a tumor extremely aggressive brain. There is no cure and most patients do not survive beyond a year and a half to two years. “It’s a terrible, devastating disease,” said Dr. Wajd Al-Holou, a neurosurgeon at University of Michigan Health. The condition is relatively rare; The National Brain Tumor Society has estimated that more than 14,490 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023.

Doctors generally try to remove as much of the tumor as possible by surgery. , and patients also receive chemotherapy and radiation to try to slow the growth of the cancer. The tumor often grows back.

Glioblastoma occurs most often in people aged 50 to 70, said Dr. Al-Holou, and is more common in men than women. , for reasons that doctors don't fully understand. Doctors are also unsure of the cause of gliobastoma.

“It’s completely random, it came out of nowhere,” said Dr. Viviane Tabar, director of the neurosurgery department at Memorial Sloan. Kettering Cancer Center.

Symptoms may develop quickly and vary depending on where the tumor is in the brain. People may experience headaches that get worse over a short period of time, blurred vision, weakness in an arm or leg, difficulty speaking, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, and seizures. Sometimes people's personalities seem to change, Dr. Al-Holou said.

Kinsella's longtime publisher, The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House Books, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.