Vivian Campbell shared an update regarding his health battle a decade after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In 2013, the Def Leppard guitarist confirmed that he had Hodgkin's lymphoma - a type of cancer that attacks one's lymphatic system. He already underwent chemotherapy cycles and a stem cell transplant while also dealing with other health issues.
However, he ended up facing the dreaded illness again.
What Happened to Vivian Campbell?
In his appearance on the "Lymphoma Voices" podcast, Campbell revealed that he is still dealing with Hodgkin's lymphoma after a decade. The podcast welcomes people suffering from the illness and interview them alongside their family and friends with the help of an expert in the field or someone also diagnosed with it.
"For the bulk of those 10 years, I actually was doing immunotherapy," he revealed. "Starting in June of 2015, I started taking a drug called pembrolizumab. I did that as part of a clinical trial. We discussed a few options. And I'd heard about this immunotherapy, and it was a very nascent treatment and I was really pushing for doing it."
He then joined a trial that worked well for him, and the treatment lasted from June 2015 to 2022.
Since Campbell tolerated his treatments well as his body responded to them, he discovered that the treatment lost its efficacy years ago based on the scans.
In November 2022, they reportedly tried pembrolizumab and three chemo drugs that put him in remission. He also tried six cycles of chemo drug called brentuximab and an immunotherapy drug called nivolumab, and he will continue the cycle this month.
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Vivian Campbell On Looking at the Brighter Side
Because of the treatments, Campbell began losing his hair and his signature look. Despite that, he keeps his head high as he reminds everyone that there is no shame in having the dreaded illness.
"There's no shame in going through treatment and wearing the effects of your treatment physically, and even being in a very public position as I was, going on tour with DEF LEPPARD and playing in front of tens of thousands of people," he continued. "Like I say, there was there was something kind of really liberating about it."
Campbell's latest work was in Def Leppard's 2022 album, "Diamond Star Halos."
