For the first time, actress Cobie Smulders is opening up about her experience with ovarian cancer.

“I had tumors on both ovaries," Smulders told Women’s Health. "And the cancer had spread into my lymph nodes and surrounding tissues. It took multiple surgeries over the course of two years to remove the cancerous tissue.”

Smulders, who will reprise her role as Maria Hill in next month’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron, was 25 when she was diagnosed. She doesn’t think she’ll ever feel “cancer-free,” but five years and two children later, she’s trying to focus on the positive.

"Now that I'm five years out, I'm trying to think of it as a positive thing and what can I learn from it,” she added. “And if I can create more awareness, I'll do it."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported approximately 20,000 women in the United States get ovarian cancer; it causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer. While it’s possible for young women, like Smulders, to get ovarian cancer, the CDC found the risk is greater for women over the age of 40: 90 percent of women in their 40s get ovarian cancer, while even more women are diagnosed in their 60s.

Ovarian cancer treatment is most effective when the cancer is caught early. The way to do this is to pay attention to your body and see a doctor right right away when experiencing any or all of these common symptoms: vaginal bleeding; pair or pressure in the pelvic or abdominal area; back pain; and bloating.