On Monday, January 12, Colleen Hoover — author of bestselling novels like It Ends With Us and the recently released Woman Down — opened up about her unexpected cancer diagnosis after a private battle.
Explaining she's near the end of her radiation treatment, Hoover posted a photo on her Instagram story alongside the caption, "Second to last day of radiation." She has not disclosed the specific type of cancer.
In another post, Hoover revealed that her cancer most likely came from an environmental or lifestyle factor, as it "did not come from family genes...[or] the two main causes of the cancer, which are HPV and excessive hormones."
While Hoover, whose bestsellers have been getting the page-to-screen treatment over the last few years, has been keeping a low profile after her diagnosis, fans have been noticing her lack of appearances. During the press tour for Regretting You — the most recent of her novels to be adapted into film — Hoover was noticeably absent. The film, which debuted to difficult reviews in October 2025, stars Allison Williams, Dave Franco, and McKenna Grace.
As the film's press cycle rolled out, Hoover was upfront with her fans about having to miss some of the pre-planned events she'd hoped to be at. Sharing she was going to be having "unavoidable surgery" and would be recovering throughout the Regretting You press cycle, Hoover tried to keep things light as she shared her disappointment with her fans online. It was clear that there were health struggles she was dealing with, but the extent hadn't been shared publicly prior to Hoover's announcement.
Hoover, who is celebrating the release of her newest novel Woman Down, appears to be pulling more of her source material from her life in her newest work. Now that she's revealed her diagnosis, it's possible Hoover's readers could see a fictionalized account of her health journey in the future.