Elle Macpherson: I’m in remission from breast cancer after refusing chemotherapy from 32 doctors

Elle Macpherson has revealed she secretly battled breast cancer seven years ago and refused treatment, despite being advised differently by multiple doctors.

The Australian supermodel, best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, said she is now in “clinical remission – but I would say I’m in utter wellness”.

Macpherson, 60, revealed in her upcoming memoir, Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself, that she took a holistic approach to her illness – going against the advice of 32 doctors and the wishes of her family.

After having a lumpectomy seven years ago, she was diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptor intraductal carcinoma – a type of breast cancer.

She said doctors advised her to have a mastectomy with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and the reconstruction of her breast.

However, she said she decided against traditional medicine and said she “went to a beach in Miami, prayed and meditated” and made the decision not to undergo chemotherapy.

In her book, she wrote: “I chose a holistic approach. Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder.”

Speaking to Women’s Weekly in Australia on Monday about her diagnosis, she said: “It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me.

“I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it. And that’s what I did.

“So, it was a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen.’

Macpherson revealed that she rented a house in Phoenix, Arizona for eight months where she “holistically treated” her cancer under the guidance of her primary doctor and two therapists.

Staying in the house alone, she said her sons Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21 and her former partner Arpad ‘Arki’ Busson, whom she split with in 2005 after ten years together, had mixed reactions about her unusual approach to the cancer diagnosis.

When Ms Macpherson was diagnosed she was dating disgraced former doctor, Andrew Wakefield.

She is believed to have split from Mr Wakefield — whose discredited research linking the MMR jab and autism made him a pariah — in 2020.

The model publicly backed her boyfriend during the COVID outbreak, stating that the pandemic was a ‘divine time’ to promote the campaign against vaccinations.

Typical cancer treatment revolves around surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Some patients also use complementary therapies to feel better, ease the side effects of these treatments and improve quality of life. Aromatherapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage, visualisation and yoga are among the most common examples.