British actress Patsy Kensit has revealed how she underwent an emergency hysterectomy this summer (13) after doctors discovered two massive tumours.

The Lethal Weapon 2 star broke down in tears after medics told her in June (13) that she would need surgery to remove her womb, just two years after she had a tumour removed from her ovary in 2011.

In an excerpt from her new autobiography Absolute Beginner, printed in Britain's Sunday Mirror, Kensit tells how she was convinced she would die, writing, "I honestly thought, this is it. I was convinced my luck had run out. I tried to prepare myself for the worst... I put my head in my hands and started sobbing. 'God, why is this happening again?' I said out loud."

Kensit also described her relief after receiving the results of her biopsy, recalling, "One morning a letter arrived. I took a deep breath, braced myself and ripped it open.

"I scanned the text quickly, then sat on my hall stairs and cried with relief - the tumours weren't cancerous and I'd been given the all-clear. I was just so relieved and so grateful I didn't have cancer... I haven't once regretted having a hysterectomy - but I did have a little period of mourning for that part of myself. It was almost like saying goodbye to my youth, and it was a very definite marker that I was moving into a new and very different phase of my life."

The 45 year old, whose mum Margie lost her 20-year cancer fight when Kensit was just 24, insists she will undergo further surgery if she is found to carry faulty genes: "I plan to get tested to find out if I've inherited one of the high-risk cancer genes from my mum. If I have, I won't think twice about having a double mastectomy. My goal is to live to a grand old age so my sons won't be without me."

The star is mum to son James, 20, with Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr, and 14-year-old Lennon, whose dad is Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher.