Dolph Lundgren first revealed that he has been battling cancer for the past 8 years. Before filming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Expendables 4 in 2021, doctors told the actor that he had 2-3 years to live.
Dolph Lundgren shared details about his illness in a conversation with the host of the show “In Depth” Graham Bensinger. In 2015, doctors discovered and removed a cancerous tumor of the kidney. Lundgren was followed up for five years, and in 2020 he was found to have six more tumors in the kidney area. One of the tumors was too large to remove, so the actor was prescribed systemic therapy.
In the fall of 2021, Lundgren was diagnosed with new tumors – at that time he came to London to shoot the films Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Expendables 4. The doctor told the actor that his situation had worsened – he advised him to spend more time with loved ones:
“[The doctor] started talking about all these different tumors – for example, in the lungs, stomach and spine, outside the kidney area. He said something like, “You should probably take a break and spend more time with your family.” I asked him, “How much time do you think I have left?” I think he said two or three years. But from his voice, I would guess that he was probably thinking about a shorter term.”
However, in the end, Dolph Lundgren went on the mend. Another oncologist in London reviewed the actor’s treatment. The new drug helped Lundgren – the tumors began to decrease:
“If I went for another treatment, I would have about three to four months left. In 2022, I basically watched these drugs do their thing. In the end, everything was reduced to about 90%. I am now in the process of removing the remaining scar tissue in these tumors… The prognosis is that when they remove them, I hope there will be no cancerous activity and the medication I am taking will suppress everything else.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to release on December 20th. The Expendables 4 releases September 22