Beverly Callard, who played Liz McDonald in the soap, announced her early-stage diagnosis earlier this year.

After going under the knife at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in February, her consultant has said the surgery "went really well".

Beverly Callard has updated her Instagram followers on her cancer battle (Image: Instagram)

But speaking in an Instagram video on Thursday, the actress said that while her cancer was successfully removed, it had spread to one of her lymph nodes.

"They're pleased with how the surgery went and they also took three lymph nodes," she explained.

"This is how she explained it to me: the lymph nodes are like a staircase, and if cancer is in the lymph nodes, it sort of tends to climb up the stairs.

"That's oversimplifying it, but just to help explain.

"They took three, and cancer is in the first lymph node, it's not in the second, two and three.

"So it is there, but it's only small."

The 69-year-old said one of the lymph nodes will be sent to the USA for further testing to determine how aggressive the cancer is.

"If it's aggressive, then I will have to undergo chemo first and then, after that, radiotherapy," Callard said.

"If it's not aggressive, I will have the radiotherapy as was planned."

The results have left the soap star, who is currently starring in I'm a Celebrity... South Africa, feeling conflicted.

"In one way, it was kind of good news that the surgery worked well, which I'm really pleased about, but because it's in the lymph nodes, it's still a worry," she added.

"And still a waiting time, which is an absolute pain."

Callard announced her diagnosis in February, just after moving to Dublin to begin work on Irish soap opera Fair City.

© Eastern Daily Press