Why I said no chemo

She ignored medics to choose a ‘holistic approach' to treatment

- TOM BRYANT

ELLE Macpherson has revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and is now in "clinical remission" despite refusing conventional treatment.

The 60-year-old Australian supermodel said defying medics to choose alternative "holistic" therapies was "the hardest thing I've ever done".

In an interview with Australian Women's Weekly, she said that after a lumpectomy revealed she had cancer her doctor suggested a brutal treatment involving a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and breast reconstruction.

She told the magazine: "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."