Def Leppard and classic Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell shared an update on his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed back in 2013, telling Rock 102.7 (via Blabbermouth):
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“It’s not anything I’ve ever been too concerned with; I just kind of roll with the punches with most of that stuff.
“But I’ve been very fortunate for the last three years – actually, this month is the three-year anniversary I’ve been doing immunotherapy. I was part of a clinical trial.
“Long story short, I found a treatment that holds everything in place for me with the Hodgkin’s lymphoma – it’s not getting any worse and my hair is not falling out and I’m not having serious side effects to this drug [called pembrolizumab]. So I’m very, very fortunate – I can continue my life and my work.
“My work is very important to me; I mean, that’s very cathartic to me, to be able to continue the work. Even when I was doing the real hardcore chemo a few years ago and whatnot, I still wanted to go out and do as many shows as possible.
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“I missed a half dozen or so, I think, when I was doing a stem cell transplant, and I found that that was more heartbreaking to me than actually doing a stem cell transplant – the fact that I wasn’t able to be on stage with my bandmates.
“So that’s been a big part of it. My mindset has always been to just refuse to give in to cancer; I just will not capitulate to that.”