Dolph Lundgren says he has had cancer for eight years and was warned in 2020 that the disease was becoming fatal

• Actor Lundgren, 65, opened up about how he was first diagnosed with cancer in 2015
• He said he was only given a few years to live by one doctor after the cancer returned in 2020
• Lundgren also said he believed his steroid use caused his cancer

Actor Dolph Lundgren has revealed that he has been battling cancer for eight years and speculated if his past use of steroids in bodybuilding was to blame.

The Swedish actor opened up about his battle in In Depth with Graham Besinger and how he was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015.

Lundgren, 65, says he went into remission, but then the cancer returned in 2020, and he was told he had 2-3 years to live by one doctor.

Lundgren went in to get a second opinion, and the treatment he’s now undergoing has shrunk them.

In a clip from the interview, while still in his hospital gown, he says: ‘It’s the day after surgery, they removed one tumor, then they took two more tumors and found three more. little ones.

“I hope she gets cleaned up, if she dies, she dies.”

Lundgren was referring to his memorable quote in 1985’s Rocky IV, after his character Ivan Drago kills Apollo Creed during an exhibition match.

Speaking to Bensinger, he talked about how he found out he had cancer again in 2020.

“In 2020 I came back to Sweden and I had some kind of acid reflux, I didn’t know what it was, so I did an MRI,” says Lundgren.

“They found that there were quite a few tumors around that area.”

He continues, “They found another tumor in my liver, so I was fine.

At that moment it began to occur to me that this was something serious. The surgeon called me and said it had grown, and it was so big, it had grown to the size of a small lemon.

I asked them how much time I had left, I think he said 2-3 years but I could tell in his voice he thought it was less. I thought that was for sure.

Lundgren said that using steroids took a toll on his body

He said: I experimented with steroids in the eighties and nineties. I don’t know if this is related to cancer, of course it shocked me because it could have something to do with it.

You come to think of it, you always thought you made a mistake. I think there may be a connection between testosterone therapy and cancer.

“I used steroids when I was younger, off and on for maybe ten years. Depending on the type of movie you made.

His fiancée, Emma Crookdahl, told Bensinger: ‘His mouth really hurt, his hands hurt and he couldn’t eat anything.

This was a struggle, he was losing weight. We realized it was much worse than we thought, and they started talking about tumors in the lung, stomach, spine, and outside the kidneys.

His daughter, Ida Lundgren, told Bensinger: ‘It shocked me when I had a deep conversation with my dad about what would happen if he died.

That was a horrible conversation, it was a rough time. I must be strong for my sister.

Lundgren said he then went to get a second opinion about his prognosis and spoke to Dr. Alexandra Drachaki.

After the treatment change, Lundgren says that within three months, his tumors had shrunk by between twenty and thirty percent.

Lundgren continues, “You just appreciate being lucky enough to be alive, and you value every moment there is.”

The full episode is scheduled to premiere later this month.