Tina Knowles Urges Women Not to Delay Breast Cancer Screenings

Tina Knowles is reminding women everywhere not to put off their breast cancer screenings.

The 71-year-old entrepreneur, designer and philanthropist recently shared with People that she was diagnosed with stage 1A breast cancer in 2024 after missing a mammogram appointment. Knowles, mother to music icons Beyoncé and Solange, said she initially postponed her screening during the COVID-19 pandemic and didn't reschedule for another four years.

When she finally did, the mammogram revealed a benign tumor in her right breast and a cancerous one in her left. Knowles underwent surgery and is now cancer-free. Her experience is made even more striking given that her ex-husband Mathew Knowles is also a breast cancer survivor.

"I think as women, sometimes we get so busy and so wrapped up in running around but you must go get your test," Knowles told People. "Because if I had not gotten my test early, I mean, I shudder to think what could have happened to me."

In her memoir Matriarch: A Memoir, Knowles also opens up about feeling dismissed by the first doctors who delivered her diagnosis. Speaking to the Today show, she recalled how a surgeon and an oncologist initially "talked down" to her about her condition. It wasn’t until she sought out a private surgeon that she found a team who treated her with respect and helped her explore all her options.

“A lot of people especially Black people feel they have to go with the doctor they are given even if we are not treated well,” she said during her interview with Today. “You deserve second opinions and it’s your opinion that sets the decision.”