Entertainment- Dolph Lundgren was told he only had "two or three years" to live after being diagnosed with cancer.
- The "Rocky" and "Aquaman" star had six tumors, including in his kidney and liver.
Dolph Lundgren, who first rose to fame in the 1980s following his iconic turn as Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV," has opened up for the first time about being secretly treated for cancer over an eight-year period.
Lundgren appeared on Wednesday's "In Depth With Graham Bensinger," revealing that doctors first removed a tumor in his kidney in 2015, and later found more tumors in 2020.
"They found a tumor in my kidney and they took it out," the Swedish actor said of his first diagnosis in 2015.
"Then they did a biopsy and it was cancerous. Then I did scans every six months, then you do it every year, then it was fine for about five years."
However, in 2020, while he was "back in Sweden," Lundgren said he experienced "some kind of acid reflux" and "went for an MRI, and they found that there were a few more tumors around that area."
Video footage filmed while Lundgren was being treated for cancer in 2020 shows the actor in good spirits after having surgery.
"They took out that one tumor," Lundgren said in footage filmed the day after he had surgery. "Then they took the other two they found, and another three small ones they found. So, six altogether. Hopefully, it's cleaned out."
In his interview with journalist Graham Bensinger, Lundgren said that he was in London to work on "The Expendables 4" and "Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom" in 2021 when he visited a different doctor due to difficulty eating, and pain in his hands and feet.
"They started saying things like, 'You should take a break and spend more time with your family,' and so forth," Lundgren recalled.
"So, I kinda asked him, 'How long do you think I have left?' and I think he said, 'Two or three years,' but I could tell in his voice that he probably thought it was less."
"I thought it was it, for sure. You kind of look at your life and go, 'I've had a frickin' great life.' I've lived like five lifetimes in one already, with everything I've done. So, it wasn't like I was bitter about it," he added.
Due to the stress of the situation, Lundgren said he got a second opinion on the tumor from another doctor, who told him his cancer could be treated in a variety of different ways.
"I couldn't believe that it would be that radical of a difference," the actor said. "That within three months, things were shrinking by 20 to 30%."
Lundgren added that in 2022, the tumors had shrunk by "90%," and he's having the remaining scar tissue removed.
The actor said he "appreciates life a lot more" because of what he's been through, and that he feels "lucky to be alive."