(UnitedVoice.com) – Hans “Dolph” Lundgren shot to fame in 1985 when he starred as the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV.” In the 38 years since the movie’s debut, he has starred in dozens more films, including “Aquaman.” Recently, the actor revealed he’s fighting a very serious battle with his health.
Lundgren sat down for an interview on the television show “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” and revealed he’s been fighting cancer for the last eight years. The actor explained that doctors initially diagnosed him with the disease in 2015. At that time, surgeons removed a malignant tumor from his kidney.
The actor received scans periodically for five years, and everything was okay. Then, in 2020, Lundgren was home in Sweden when he started to feel like he had acid reflux. He said that he went and had an MRI done. Afterward, he received news that the doctors had found more tumors. At that point, the 65-year-old said he went back under the knife and had six more removed.
Doctors subsequently found another tumor in Lundgren’s liver that had grown to the “size of a lemon.” His physician told him that he would not be able to remove that one because it was too big, so he began systemic therapy. He didn’t explain whether he received chemotherapy or another treatment but said he began to feel side effects.
Lundgren’s fiancée Emma Krokdal spoke during the interview as well, telling Bensinger the actor’s hands, feet, and mouth got sore during the treatment. She said he wasn’t able to “eat anything warm, anything cold, anything, like, spicy,” and it was a very difficult time for Lundgren.
The doctor eventually told the actor that he believed he only had a few years left to live. So, he reached out to another oncologist for a second opinion. That physician told him that his kidney cancer was mutating like lung cancer. Doctors overhauled the actor’s treatment, and the tumors started to shrink.
According to the American Cancer Society, kidney cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease. It estimates that in 2023, there will be nearly 82,000 new cases, and over 14,000 will die from it. Lundgren doesn’t expect to join that death toll. He said the tumors have now shrunk by about 90%, and he believes he will be in remission soon.
“You just appreciate being lucky enough to be alive,” the actor said.
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