Valerie Harper announced earlier this year that she was fighting terminal brain cancer and said that the doctors had only given her a few months to live, but now they say she’s close to beating it against all odds.

“I’d say that we’re getting pretty close to a remission,” neuro-oncologist Jeremy Rudnick said on the “Today” show. “It defies the odds.”

Harper, who has already beaten lung cancer, made headlines earlier this month when she accepted a role in the television movie “The Town That Came A-Courtin'”, and now there are reports that she’ll be joining actress Leah Remini on the dancefloor for the upcoming season of “Dancing With The Stars”.

The show doesn’t reveal the new cast until they’re ready, so nothing has been confirmed, but if Harper competes this season she’ll be proving her already tough-as-nails outlook.

Remini has also been in the news this year after making a break from the church of Scientology; the actress reportedly didn’t agree with the group’s methods of teaching and garnered quite a bit of negative attention from church leaders by leaving.

The new cast of “Dancing With The Stars” will be announced on September 17 on “Good Morning America”.

Image: Wikimedia Commons