'I'm petrified': Actress Shannen Doherty reveals heartbreaking news that her cancer is back as stage 4

(WJW) - Shannen Doherty has announced that her breast cancer has come back as stage four.

The former "90210" and "Charmed" actress was first diagnosed in 2015, and went into remission in 2017. She learned nearly a year ago that her cancer came back.

She said on "Good Morning America" Tuesday she's opening up now because the diagnosis is detailed in documents that will soon become public as part of a lawsuit. She said she wanted to keep the diagnosis private.

"I still do. I don't think I've processed it," she said. "It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. I'm petrified. I'm pretty scared."

Doherty filed the lawsuit against her insurance company, State Farm, after her home was damaged by the Woolsey fire in 2018. She says  some of her claims were unjustly denied. She said she didn't want people to hear about her diagnosis from court documents.

"I'd rather people hear it from me," she said. "I don't want it to be twisted. I don't want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic, and I want to control the narrative."

After her most recent diagnosis, she went to work on the "90210" reboot. It launched soon after her friend and co-star, Luke Perry, passed away from a stroke.

"Why wasn't it me," she said. "It was so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who is seemingly healthy to go first. It was really shocking. And the least I could do to honor him was to do that show."

She said she thought when she did make it public, she will have worked 16 hours a day and proven that when someone is diagnosed with cancer, their life doesn't end.

"Other people with stage 4 can work, too," she said. "Our life doesn't just end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do."