Actress Shannen Doherty choked back tears during an emotional and frank TV chat about her cancer battle on Thursday (18Feb16).

The 44-year-old, who was forced to open up about her health crisis in a legal spat last year (15), has since revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and in a tearful appearance on The Dr. Oz Show, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star told the TV medic she'll never forget the moment she was told she had the big C.

"You worry most about the people that you love and making sure that they are going to be OK," Shannen said, fighting back tears. "For me, that was the hardest part."

Doherty maintains her former business managers are to blame for her diagnosis, because they failed to pay her health insurance - and that prompted the actress to wait to see a doctor after feeling a lump in her breast.

"You have no idea what that extra time might have afforded you," she said. "Mine, for instance, spread to a lymph node or two. It might not have spread... The most important thing is catching it as early as humanly possible."

Shannen is still taking medication to shrink the tumor ahead of possible surgery to remove it - and perhaps her breasts, to prevent a future cancer scare.

"They're just breasts," she smiled. "In the grand scheme of things, I would rather be alive and I would rather grow old with my husband."

Meanwhile, the actress' husband, Kurt Iswarienko, has revealed Shannen's cancer diagnosis tested their marriage, but ultimately brought them closer together.

"It's one of those times you get to test your mettle as a married couple," he said.