Revealing his 8 year-battle with cancer for the first time, the 'Rocky IV' star says that he didn't receive enough information from his doctor before he sought a second opinion.
- May 11, 2023
AceShowbiz - Dolph Lundgren has been secretly battling cancer for eight years. The actor, best known for his portrayal as boxer Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV", has spoken up about his major health issue for the first time in a video interview on "In Depth With Graham Bensinger".
In the interview published on Wednesday, May 10, the Swedish actor revealed that a tumor was discovered in his kidney and removed in 2015. "But then they did a biopsy - and it was cancerous," he said.
After the initial tumor was discovered, he underwent scans every six months and then every year, which he said were "fine." But in 2020, the "Aquaman" star began suffering what he thought was acid reflux.
After getting an MRI, it was revealed that there were more tumors in his kidney area and a tumor was also found in his liver. "At that point, it started to hit me that this is kind of something serious," the 65-year-old admitted.
Dolph was preparing to have the rumor removed, but "the surgeon called me and said, 'No, it's grown now. It's too big. We can't take it out,' " he recounted. "It's like the size of like a small lemon."
He then underwent systemic therapy, which caused him to suffer awful side effects including diarrhea and severe weight loss. "His mouth got really sore. His hands got sore, [his] feet, and he couldn't eat anything warm, anything cold or anything spicy," his fiancee Emma Krokdal revealed. "So that was a struggle to get food down, so he kept losing weight."
Dolph also complained of the lack of information he received from his medical team. "The doctor over there wasn't really sharing information with us, so we didn't really know, didn't know what was going on," slammed the actor. He added, "I think now, thinking back, they probably thought, 'Oh, I'm a lost case.' "
At the time, the doctor told him he only had two or three years to live and he was advised to "take a break and spend more time with your family."
But Dolph wasn't ready to give up, so he sought a second opinion. He then met Dr. Alexandra Drakaki, who offered to do a second biopsy, uncovering a mutation that would allow the actor to heal through medication.
"She was like, 'This is really good news,' " his fiancee recalled. "There's so many medications that target this mutation. We're going to start with this one that seems to be the most effective."
Dolph's cancer has shrunk 90% since he started taking the medicine and he is in the process of getting the scar tissue from the rumors removed. "The prognosis is that, hopefully, when they take these out there's no cancer activity and the medication that I'm taking is going to suppress everything else," he said.
The "Creed II" star said his health journey has made him "appreciate life a lot more." He shared, "Somehow as an actor, you know, you try to put positive emotion and positive energy into the world. I've always tried to be nice to everybody I meet ... and maybe it came back to me somehow when I needed it the most."
