The Rocky IV actor — best known for playing Rocky’s rival Ivan Drago — shared the good news via Instagram on Wednesday, November 27, in a video filmed while waiting in the hospital for a lung ablation. (A lung ablation is a procedure used to destroy cancer cells using heat or cold.)
“Here I am at UCLA. [I’m] about to go in and get rid of that last dead tumor. Since there are no cancer cells in my body anymore, then I guess I’ll be cancer-free, so I’m looking forward to this procedure,” said Lundgren, 67.
He added, “It’s been a rough ride and really taught me how to live in the moment and enjoy every moment of life. It’s the only way to go.”
The Expendables star also captioned his Instagram post, “Health update – finally cancer free with gratefulness and excitement for a bright future. Thanks for all your support always. 🙏”
Lundgren first opened up about his secret eight-year battle with cancer in a May 2023 interview on In Depth With Graham Bensinger. He was first diagnosed with a kidney tumor in 2015, which he had removed at the time. But in 2020, he discovered that he had more tumors.
“This is just the first time I’ve spoken about it. So if you can save one person’s life who was in my situation then it’s worth it, for sure,” Lundgren said. “I did scans every six months. Then you do it every year and it was fine for five years. In 2020, I was back in Sweden and had some kind of acid reflux. So I did an MRI, and they found that there were a few more tumors around that area.”
Lundgren said in the interview that doctors only gave him a few years to live at the time.
“So, I kinda asked [the doctor], ‘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,” he said.
He added, “I thought it was it for sure. You kind of look at your life and going, ‘I’ve had a great life.’ I’ve had a freaking great life. I’ve lived like five lifetimes in one already with everything I’ve done.”
