Magda Szubanski breaks down as she shares devastating update on her cancer battle and reveals she has just years left to live: 'Incurable'

Magda Szubanski has shared heartbreaking news as she continues to battle a rare form of cancer. 

In her first interview since announcing her Mantle Cell Lymphoma diagnosis last year, the Australian actress broke down as she shared that she is dealing with what she calls an 'incurable relapse in cancer'. 

'So, it's almost sure that it will come back. It's a question of "when" and then "how bad",' the 65-year-old told 60 Minutes host Tracy Grimshaw on Sunday. 

Szubanski said that while she was 'pitching for more' time, she may be facing just eight years before the cancer claims her life. 

'The median survival rate is eight-and-a-half years. So, I could go less, or I could go more,' she said. 

The comedian says she feels as if she is living with the 'sword of Damocles over her head' and understands that her time could run out. 

'For those of us who, you know, it hangs by only a couple of strands, it's a very different feeling,' she said. 

'It is just a different state of consciousness. It's a different awareness of death. It's not abstract.'

The Babe actress described the process of going through chemotherapy as like a 'multi-car pile-up'.

'I'm not being a Pollyanna about this because I think that's not fair to people to do that,' she said.

'It was freaking hard, but when I say it was doable, it was. My results put me in good stead, but it can change.'

Szubanski says that she discovered the cancer after suffering a period of unwellness that led to horrific nightmares. 

'I knew something was wrong. I just felt so unwell,' she said.

'It would wake me up in the middle of the night, literally wake up with a dream voice saying "you're dying, you're dying".'

'So, it was like, dude, there's something wrong here. You know, there's something really wrong.'

Magda announced in February that her cancer had gone into remission.

'I've completed chemo and I am now in remission. Phew!' she said at the time. 

'It's not a cure, but if I've got a good remission, hopefully that will mean I'll be able to keep the cancer at bay for a good long time.

'And I also wanted to say a special, huge thank you to you for all the love and support that you've shown.'

Telling fans that she felt loved and supported during her health crisis, Magda said that it helped physically as well as emotionally.

'So eternal gratitude, thank you so much for that,' she added.

Elsewhere in the clip, Magda praised her own health team and Australia's medical community, calling it 'one of the best in the world.'

'There's not a day that goes by that I don't give profound thanks to the medical community... and also to the common sense of the Australian people that we see how practical and compassionate it is to have a really good medical system,' she said.

In May last year, Magda announced on social media that she was battling a rare form of cancer known as Mantle Cell Lymphoma.

She appeared on camera with a shaved head after beginning her treatment to fight the disease.

'Hello my lovelies. So, the head is shaved in anticipation of it all falling out in a couple of weeks because I have just been diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive, very serious lymphoma,' she began. 

'It is one of the nasty ones, unfortunately. The good thing is I'm surrounded by beautiful friends, family and an incredible medical support team.

'Honestly, we have the best in the world here in Australia, particularly in Melbourne. I feel very fortunate.

'It's pretty confronting. It is full-on. But new treatments keep coming down the pipeline all the time.'

Szubanski said she had started a treatment called the Nordic protocol, which treats mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) by shrinking the tumours with a combination of drugs administered in five phases.