Dolph Lundgren awaits news about his serious illness

Hollywood muscle legend
The legendary Ivan Drago
Hard hit in 2015
Secret treatment
Kidney tumor
Regular scans
New blow in 2020
Discovered on time
Six localized tumors
More tumors found
'Worse than we thought'
Giving up is not an option
From kidney to lung
Progress with the new treatment
90% reduction in 2022
A struggle of eight years.
Completely clean?
Prognosis is coming
Waiting for the big news
Hollywood muscle legend

He's a muscled Swede of almost two meters (6'5) and 120 kilos (264lb) with a presence as intimidating as it is imposing. Yet, Dolph Lundgren is said to be one of the gentlest and nicest guys in Hollywood.

The legendary Ivan Drago

Dolph Lundgren has been a star in the industry for close to four decades, with his unforgettable role as Ivan Drago in 'Rocky IV' (image) as one of the highlights. There, and in other films, he showed off his strength, punch, and musculature.

Hard hit in 2015

Despite his almost superhuman strength, the Swedish actor has recently revealed that in 2015 he was diagnosed with a serious illness. The star has been treated for cancer ever since.

Secret treatment

It was during a sincere interview, 'In Depth With Graham Bensinger' (photo), where Dolph Lundgren told the secret that he had kept hidden for eight years.

Kidney tumor

As the actor revealed, he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his kidney. The cancer was removed but a series of periodic reviews began from there.

Regular scans

"I did scans every six months, then you do it every year, and it was fine, you know, for five years," the actor recalls.

New blow in 2020

But in 2020, the Swedish actor began to experience acid reflux without knowing exactly what it was, so he went straight to the doctor.

Discovered on time

"I did an MRI and they found there were a few more tumors around the area," he recalls.

Six localized tumors

There were a total of six tumors in Dolph Lundgren's body. They were able to remove five, but the sixth was impossible to treat because it had grown too much. The doctors then proceeded to apply systemic therapy.

Image: Creed II

 

 

More tumors found

But time passed and the actor's situation worsened. In the fall of 2021, more tumors were discovered in Dolph Lundgren's body. It happened right after the filming of 'Expend4bles' and 'Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom'.

'Worse than we thought'

"We realized it was a lot worse than we thought. [The doctor] kind of started talking about all these different tumors, like, in the lung and the stomach and the spine, outside the kidneys," the actor said, according to Variety.

"Take a break and spend more time with your family"

As the actor recalled, the doctor "started saying these things like, ‘You should probably take a break and spend more time with your family,’ and so forth."

"How long do you think I've got left?"

Faced with such a scenario, Dolph Lundgren bluntly asked how long he had left to live. "I think he said two or three years, but I could tell in his voice that he probably thought it was less."

Giving up is not an option

Instead of just letting it be, the actor decided to seek a second opinion in London. There, he was told that his kidney cancer had mutated into lung cancer.

 

 

From kidney to lung

Thanks to this insight into his illness, the Swedish actor could make the decision to treat it as lung cancer instead of kidney cancer. And, as he points out to Graham Besinger, this decision saved his life.

Image: Creed II

Progress with the new treatment

"If I had gone on the other treatment, I’d have had about three to four months left," he said. But after they treated the illness as lung cancer, the tumors shrunk by 20% in just over three months.

90% reduction in 2022

The treatment was maintained throughout 2022, Lundgren said, and the results were spectacular. All his tumors had been reduced by 90%.

A struggle of eight years.

Obviously, to this day, the situation is still complicated. Yet, there is hope that the treatment will end leaving Dolph Lundgren's muscular body completely clean.

Completely clean?

"Finally things had shrunk to about 90%. Now I’m in the process of taking out the remaining scar tissue in those tumors…" the actor said.

 

Prognosis is coming

"The prognosis is that, hopefully, when they take these out, there’s no cancer activity and the medication that I’m taking is gonna suppress everything else," the Swede continued hopefully.

Waiting for the big news

While waiting to see the evolution, it is possible that after eight years of check-ups, treatments, and interventions, Dolph Lundgren can completely cleanse his body of carcinogenic substances. It could be big and very good news for the actor.

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