Tina Knowles revealed her secret battle with breast cancer in her new memoir, Matriarch, detailing her shocking diagnosis and how she reacted in that moment.

“My doctor told me I had breast cancer. A small tumor in my left breast that was cancerous; the larger tumor in my right breast was benign, but it would also have to go,” Tina, 71, wrote within the pages of her book released on Tuesday, April 22. “She said I was Stage 1A, assuring me my prognosis was good. The next step was to talk to an oncologist and a breast surgeon.”

Tina, who is mom to Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, said that she was initially stunned when her doctors told her the news and began anticipating her journey ahead.

“I sat there in a daze, rubbing my neck. I immediately thought of my father, all those times taking him to chemo and how much cancer took from him. I had been through all of this stuff in life getting to be 70 years old, and now I’m gonna get cancer?” she shared.

The author stated that Beyoncé, 43, sprung into action and surprisingly took the news “well.”

“I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision. She would find me the top specialist,” Tina detailed, noting “my girls became my team.”

Tina was diagnosed in July 2024 after finally getting a mammogram she had postponed for four years. Surgery was scheduled the following month, during which she got the cancerous tissue removed along with a breast reduction by a private practice specialist.

Tina later learned that she was “cancer-free” but was not out of the woods yet, having to undergo a second surgery in September 2024 to remove a hematoma.

She went on to develop an infection thereafter. “[Beyoncé] insisted I put her on speaker during my consult in the exam room with the infectious disease specialist,” Tina continued about her health battle. “The doctor was impressed with her questions; I was impressed by her care.”

After that scare, Tina stressed how vital it is for women to make time for their doctor appointments and to do screenings.

“It’s important not to slack on your mammograms,” Tina told People, revealing she is now cancer-free and doing great, plus incredibly “blessed” to have found out early about her diagnosis.

“I struggled with whether I would share that journey [in the book] because I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think it’s a lot of lessons in it for other women,” she said.

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

Tina noted the experience was a wake-up call for her to prioritize her health. “I forgot that I didn’t go to get my test two years before I thought I had because Covid came and they called me and canceled me and they said, we’ll call you when we start testing again,” she shared. “And I just thought I had done it. So you cannot play around with that.”