Desperate Denton Urges Women Not to Ignore Cancer Signs 9/29/05

Desperate Housewives star James Denton is urging women not to ignore lumps they find in their breasts after watching his mother die because she didn't act quickly enough.

The actor, a fervent breast cancer crusader, insists his mother would be alive today if she hadn't chosen to snub doctors and battle the disease in silence.

Denton's mother lost her battle with cancer in 2003, at the age of 62.

The actor, who plays hunky plumber Mike Delfino on the hit show, says, "My mother found a lump and suspected she had breast cancer, but she chose not to do anything about it.

"Both her mom and a really good friend had had really horrible chemotherapy experiences, and I think she just resigned herself to the fact that if it was cancer, she wasn't going to do anything about it.

"We found out too late to do anything; we didn't realize what was going on until she was almost incapacitated... She lived a little over a year after we found out."