Actor Dolph Lundgren has revealed he has been battling cancer for the past eight years and speculates if his previous use of steroids in bodybuilding is to blame
The Swedish actor opened up about his struggle on ‘In Depth with Graham Besinger’ and revealed he was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015.
Lundgren, 65, says he went into remission but then the cancer returned in 2020 and a doctor told him he had only two to three years to live.
The star got a second opinion and the treatment he is now being given has caused the tumors to shrink.
In a snippet of the interview, while still wearing a hospital gown, he says, “The day after my surgery, they removed one tumor, then two more that they found, and three more small ones.”
“Hopefully it’s cleansed, if it dies, it dies.”
Pictured: Lundgren with actor Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV
Lundgren is interviewed here the day after having a number of tumors removed from his body
Lundgren had referenced his memorable quote from the 1985 film Rocky IV after his character Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed during their exhibition match.
Speaking to Bensinger, he shared how he rediscovered he had cancer in 2020.
Lundgren says: “In 2020 I was back in Sweden and had some kind of acid reflux. I didn’t know what it was, so I got an MRI.”
“They found that there were a few other tumors in that area.”
He continues, “They found another tumor in the liver, so I was like, shit, okay.”
“It was at that point that I realized it was something serious. The surgeon called me and said it had grown, it was too big, it had grown to the size of a small lemon.
“I asked her how much longer I would have. I think he said 2-3 years but I could tell from his voice that he thought it was less. I thought it definitely would.’
Lundgren said that steroid use was affecting his body
Pictured: Lundgren, who says he’s been battling cancer since 2015
Pictured: Lundgren and his fiancee Emma Krokdal in April this year
He said: “I tried steroids in the 80’s and 90’s. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the cancer, but of course it occurred to me that it might have something to do with it.
“I’ve been thinking about it, you always think you made a mistake.” I think there might be a link between testosterone therapy and cancer.
“When I was younger I used steroids, off and on, for maybe ten years.’ Depends on the type of film I was doing.’
Fiancé Emma Krokdal told Bensinger, “His mouth got really sore, his hands got sore and he couldn’t eat.”
“That was a struggle, he lost weight.” “We realized it was a lot worse than we thought and they started talking about tumors in the lungs, stomach, spine and outside of the kidneys.”
Pictured: Lundgren in the role of Ivan Drago in the 1985 film Rocky IV
In the interview, Lundgren admits to having used steroids in the 80s and 90s
His daughter, Ida Lundgren, told Bensinger, “It became clear to me while having an intense conversation with my father about what would happen if he died.”
“That was a horrible conversation, it was a tough time.” “I have to be strong for my sister.”
Lundgren said he then got a second opinion on his diagnosis and talked to Dr. Spoken to Alexandra Drakaki.
After changing treatment, his tumors shrunk by 20 to 30 percent within three months, Lundgren says.
Lundgren continues, “You just appreciate being lucky enough to be alive and you appreciate every moment there is.”
Lundgren is best known for his roles in action films. Lundgren made his breakthrough with the role of Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV”.
He later reprized his role as Drago in Creed II in 2018.
After working extensively on direct-to-video films in the ’90s, he returned to Hollywood in 2010’s The Expendables alongside Rocky co-star Sylvester Stallone.
He has since reprized his role as Gunnar Jensen in the second and third films in the series, with a fourth expected later this year.
The full episode is due out later this month.