New Details Regarding Roman Reigns’ Leukemia Battle

During a new episode of WWE Chronicle, Roman Reigns revealed that he was diagnosed with CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia) which was caught in its early stages by WWE medical staff. Instead of traditional chemotherapy, Reigns took pills for treatment.

“It’s not like taking Advil,” explained Reigns. “It’s nothing like taking radiation and true chemotherapy, but it does have its side effects. It does have its nastiness about it. But at the end of the day, if you’re lucky enough to just take a pill, I think you’re ahead of the game.”

Michael J. Mauro, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, explained how quickly remission can take place:

“Most patients generally achieve blood remission in a few weeks and cytogenetic remission in a few months. Doctors look for major molecular remission within the first year or two, and research is under way to see if it’s OK to stop treatment after you’ve been in it for a period of time.”