Dolph Lundgren Considered Assisted Medical Aid in Dying After Cancer Misdiagnosis

Dolph Lundgren confessed that he considered assisted medical aid in dying (MAID) after his cancer misdiagnosis.

In his new memoir, Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle, published on September 22, the Rocky IV and Aquaman actor, 68, opened up about the health scare that had him thinking about dying on his own terms.

After a doctor discovered cancer in his kidney in 2015, Lundgren underwent treatment and surgery. He was in remission until 2020, when more tumors were found, resulting in more treatment.

“When I was deep into the cancer treatments and thinking about the possibility of killing myself, my brother, Johan, was going to help me, because I didn’t know what kind of condition I might be in once I made that decision,” he wrote, per People.

He added, “I could be in really bad shape by then and not capable of completing the suicide on my own. There are countries in Europe, like Switzerland, that permit legal suicide for people who are terminally ill, but I still might have needed someone there to help me.”

In MAID, patients with terminal illnesses can choose to end their lives by taking lethal medication. It is only legal in 10 European countries.

Thankfully for Lundgren, conversations with his sibling about MAID didn’t go “further than that” — because he soon met Dr. Alexandra Drakaki, an oncologist at UCLA Health.

“At this point, I was depressed and had almost given up all hope,” Lundgren wrote.

However, Dr. Drakaki revealed that he actually had lung cancer and not fatal kidney cancer, which changed both his treatment plan and prognosis.

“What she found was that my ‘kidney cancer’ cells had a mutation that is fairly common in lung cancer,” he explained. “That’s why the medications I had been given for the past two years weren’t working.”

 

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Ultimately, Lundgren said that Dr. Drakaki “saved my life.” He announced via Instagram that he was cancer-free in 2024. “Health update  — finally cancer free with gratefulness and excitement for a bright future,” he wrote alongside a video of himself at a hospital. “Thanks for all your support always.”

Lundgren is best known for portraying the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Additionally, he played He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987), Frank Castle in The Punisher (1989), Sergeant Andrew Scott in Universal Soldier (1992), King Nereus in Aquaman (2018), and Gunner Jensen in The Expendables film franchise.