Blogger dies of breast cancer after declaring she was cured
A tragedy has emerged from China: influential cancer blogger and livestreamer Chen Meiying has died at age 39 after a relentless battle with triple-negative breast cancer, just months after declaring herself “cured.” She passed away on October 12, 2025, after the illness returned and metastasised.
Meiying, a mother of one from Chongqing, first received her diagnosis in 2024, forcing her to close her clothing business and turning to livestreaming on social platforms to make ends meet while documenting her journey. On April 16, she publicly announced that she was “cured,” even going as far as removing her IV line on live stream. Two months later, however, the cancer returned and aggressively spread to her bones and internal mammary lymph nodes, according to reports.
Despite her deteriorating health, Meiying continued with daily routines for the sake of her teenage daughter, who was in her final year of high school. She kept up school runs and livestream sessions until she was hospitalised on September 26. Her final social-media update was on September 22, and she died shortly thereafter.
This story raises deeply concerning issues about cancer misinformation, the emotional strain of public battling of disease and the complexities of “cure” declarations. While Meiying’s initial declaration of being “cured” may have been driven by optimism and visible improvement, medically it appears she lacked the long-term disease-free interval that oncologists typically require before using that term. Her case underscores that certain aggressive breast-cancer subtypes—such as triple-negative—can return suddenly and progress swiftly.
For her followers, family and the wider community, the truth of her death is a somber reminder of the fragility of life, even when hope and public optimism are high. It also points to the need for careful communication around health journeys shared on social media—even when someone appears to be doing well, the underlying medical reality can be far less certain.
