Abby Lee Miller has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.
The diagnosis comes one day after the Dance Moms star underwent emergency surgery for what was initially thought to be a spinal infection.
“It was not an infection, it was a type of a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – it’s a type of a cancer,” Dr. Hooman M. Melamed, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Cedar Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital who has been treating the star told PEOPLE.
Dr. Hooman M. Melamed revealed that Miller will most likely undergo chemotherapy or radiation.
“We’re getting an oncologist involved and we have to figure out what the next steps are as far as chemotherapy or radiation or more spine surgery. Depending on the tumour type, depending on the sensitivity of the tumour – it just depends the type but I feel more than yes, she will undergo chemotherapy or radiation.”
Doctors are not sure exactly where the rumour has spread from, or if it will continue to spread.
“There’s a chance this can spread to any part of the body … this is probably coming from somewhere else,” he says. “We don’t know where the source is. Any tumour that spreads anywhere is automatically Stage 4, but we have not determined the stage yet.”
Miller recently served a 366-day prison sentence for committing bankruptcy fraud.
Our hearts go out to the former reality star at this difficult time.
This article originally appeared on WHO.