Dolph Lundgren with Sylvester Stallone in 1986 film 'Rocky IV'.
Dolph Lundgren, actor known for his role as Ivan Drago in 1985 film Rocky IV, has revealed he has been battling cancer for the last eight years. The 65-year-old spoke about his diagnosis publicly during an interview on In Depth With Graham Bensinger. Mr Lundgren said doctors first discovered a tumour in his kidney and removed it in 2015. A biopsy of the tumour later found it to be cancerous. The Swedish actor has also appeared in the 2018 film Creed II.
"I did scans every six months, then you do it every year and it was fine, you know, for five years," Mr Lundgren was quoted as saying by Variety. "In 2020, I was back in Sweden and had some kind of acid reflux or... I didn't know what it was. So I did an MRI and they found there were a few more tumours around the area."
The actor said six more tumours were discovered at the time and one of which was too large to be removed. So, he had to start systemic therapy.
Then, in 2021, when he arrived in London to film sequels to his 'Aquaman' and 'The Expendables' franchises, more tumours were discovered, as per the Variety report.
"We realised it was a lot worse than we thought," Mr Lundgren said in the interview.
"The doctor kind of started talking about all these different tumours, like, in the lung and the stomach and the spine, outside the kidneys. He started saying these things like, 'You should probably take a break and spend more time with your family,' and so forth. I asked him, 'How long do you think I've got left?' I think he said two or three years, but I could tell in his voice that he probably thought it was less," he added.
The actor took a second opinion from a doctor in London who discovered that his kidney cancer was mutating more like lung cancer. So, the treatment was overhauled and the treatment was lung cancer began.
"2022 was basically watching these medications do their thing. Finally things had shrunk to about 90%. Now I'm in the process of taking out the remaining scar tissue in those tumours," said Mr Lundgren.
The actor said his health journey has made him "appreciate life a lot more".