Tv - Valerie Harper Diagnosed With Terminal Brain Cancer

The Mary Tyler Moore Show star, 73, who played Rhoda Morgenstern in the hit U.S. series and its spin-off Rhoda, underwent a series of tests which showed she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain.

Harper received the devastating news in January (13) and has been told by doctors she has as little as three months to live.

Opening up about the diagnosis to People magazine, Harper says, "I was stunned. And in the next minute I thought, 'This could draw more attention to cancer research.' I think there's an opportunity to help people. I don't think of dying. I think of being here now."

Harper previously battled lung cancer in 2009.