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"Valerie Harper has explained her decision to take part in Dancing with the Stars. The 74-year-old actress, who was confirmed as a cast member yesterday, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer earlier this year.  However, Harper - who is now said to be close to remission - told People that she is now feeling &amp;quot;much better&amp;quot;. &amp;quot;My brain scans are looking better too,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;The doctors tell me there&amp;#039;s less evidence of cancer, which is very unusual. However, they both say it&amp;#039;s not a case of if, but when. And I can live with that.&amp;quot; Harper explained that she had few doubts about joining Dancing With The Shows, saying: &amp;quot;When they asked, I thought, &amp;#039;Why would I say no?&amp;#039; When life asks you to dance, you just have to dance.&amp;quot;  She admitted that she has turned down the competition in the past as she &amp;quot;didn&amp;#039;t want to appear on the show and fumble because of [her] diagnosis&amp;quot; but now hopes that it &amp;quot;might prove inspiring to people to see a 74-year-old woman with terminal cancer dancing&amp;quot;. Harper has previously said that her philosophy is to make the most of every day, saying: &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re alive, stay alive.&amp;quot; Dancing with the Stars premieres on September 16 on ABC.  Photo gallery - The new cast of &amp;#039;Dancing with the Stars&amp;#039;:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/dancing-with-the-stars/news/a512819/valerie-harper-on-dancing-with-the-stars-why-would-i-say-no/>