EXCLUSIVE: Kirstie Alley will be CREMATED after beloved actress lost her brief battle with colon cancer. Church of Scientology will hold memorial service at its Clearwater, Florida HQ

• Kirstie Alley only ‘recently’ discovered she had colon cancer and died Monday art her Clearwater, Florida, home after a short battle with the illness
• DailyMail.com has learned the Cheers actress will be cremated  
• She had been receiving treatment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida
• Colon cancer is known to be a silent killer because symptoms often don’t present themselves until a patient is beyond a cure 
• Alley’s Cheers co-stars led tributes to her on Monday after her death 

Kirstie Alley will be cremated, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively. 

The 71-year-old actress died Monday at her home in Clearwater, Florida, after a brief battle with colon cancer that she only ‘recently discovered.’

Alley, a devout scientologist, had been receiving treatment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.

A funeral for the star has not yet been confirmed but the Church of Scientology is said to be planning a memorial service at Flag Building, often referred to as the Super Power Building, its main headquarters in Clearwater.

DailyMail.com has learned Cheers actress Kirstie Alley will be cremated

The 71-year-old actress died Monday at her home in Clearwater, Florida, after a brief battle with colon cancer that she only ‘recently discovered’ 

Alley had been receiving treatment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. It’s unclear how long she had been suffering with cancer before she was diagnosed 

In a statement on social media, her family said: ‘She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead.

‘As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother.’ 

Colon cancer is known as a silent killer around the world because symptoms often don’t present themselves until a patient is beyond a cure. 

Only a third of patients are diagnosed in stage one – when the cancer is 90 percent curable. It’s unclear what stage Alley’s cancer had progressed to. 

Alley led a colorful life off-camera, committing herself for decades to the Church of Scientology and having public spats with other stars. 

Fellow Scientologist John Travolta led tributes to the actress on social media on Monday night after her family confirmed the sad news of her death. 

‘Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I’ve ever had. I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again,’ he said. 

The Flag Building in Clearwater, Florida. The Church is expected to hold a memorial for Alley

Alley had reached ‘Thetan 8’ status in the Church of Scientology – the highest honor possible – after devoting herself to the religion that she credited with helping her kick a cocaine habit in the 1970s, before she found international fame. 

Scientology resists the scientifically-proven facts about cancer and instead suggests that it is the result of a ‘sexual upset’ in the body. 

‘Cancer is not caused – never has been and never will be. It is not a caused mechanism by the external environment or some physiological activity.

‘It always requires a second-dynamic or sexual upset, such  as the loss of children or some other mechanism to bring about a condition known as cancer,’ wrote Ron L. Hubbard, the church’s founder, in a 1980 article in one of the church’s journals. 

It’s unclear how long Alley had been suffering before she turned to conventional medicine for help. 

Alley reached the highest status possible in 2018, and was taken onboard the Scientology ship Freewinds to cement the shift in status. 

Alley was cast in 1987 as Rebecca Howe on NBC’s iconic sitcom Cheers, which revolved around a group of friends and their main hangout, a Boston bar

Alley said she fell in love with Travolta while they were working together on Look Who’s Talking, in which they portrayed a pair of lovers raising a child – and that she remained in love with him long after

Kirstie Alley with her kids William True and Lillie Price in 2005

Ted Danson, who was a mainstay in the NBC sitcom, said he was on a flight yesterday and by chance decided to watch an episode of Cheers starring Alley before he learned of her death, in which she is proposed to by Tom Berenger. 

He told People: ‘Her ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown was both moving and hysterically funny.

‘She made me laugh 30 years ago when she shot that scene, and she made me laugh today just as hard. 

‘As I got off the plane, I heard that Kirstie had died.

‘I am so sad and so grateful for all the times she made me laugh. I send my love to her children. 

‘As they well know, their mother had a heart of gold. I will miss her,’ he said.

COLON CANCER: WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS?

Bowel, or colorectal, cancer affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum.

Such tumors usually develop from pre-cancerous growths, called polyps.

Symptoms include:

• Bleeding from the bottom
• Blood in stools
• A change in bowel habits lasting at least three weeks
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extreme, unexplained tiredness
• Abdominal pain

Most cases have no clear cause, however, people are more at risk if they: 

• Are over 50
• Have a family history of the condition
• Have a personal history of polyps in their bowel
• Suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease
• Lead an unhealthy lifestyle  

Treatment usually involves surgery, and chemo- and radiotherapy.

More than nine out of ten people with stage 1 bowel cancer survive five years or more after their diagnosis.

Unfortunately, only around a third of all colorectal cancers are diagnosed at this early stage. 

The majority of people come to the doctor when the disease has spread beyond the wall of the colon or rectum or to distant parts of the body, which decreasing the chance of being successfully cured of colon cancer. 

According to Bowel Cancer UK figures, more than 41,200 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK. 

It affects around 40 per 100,000 adults per year in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute.

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