The fiery, up-for-anything Megadeth singer Dave Mustaine, 57, who was diagnosed with throat cancer last June and then dropped out of the spotlight, is now publicly sharing his journey, telling Rolling Stone that he can’t wait to get back on tour, diagnosis be damned.
His first reaction had been ‘Fuck,'” said Mustaine, who has been the lead guitarist and singer for the heavy metal band since 1983. But he then decided “I'm not gonna let this beat me.”
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Mustaine’s Cancer Journey
“I've been diagnosed with throat cancer,” Mustaine wrote in a Facebook post in June. “It's clearly something to be respected and faced head on but I've faced obstacles before. I'm working closely with my doctors, and we've mapped out a treatment plan which they feel has a 90% success rate. Treatment has already begun.” “Unfortunately, this requires that we cancel most shows this year,” he continued.In September, Mustaine wrote a message on the band’s website that read in part: “I'm almost through the last round of treatment and my doctors are feeling very positive regarding my progress. I want to thank all of you for the support and well wishes these last few months. I can't express enough gratitude as it has made this hard road easier knowing you are in my corner fighting with me!”
Now, he told Rolling Stone, he feels great and his doctors are impressed with his progress. He’s even planning to join his band for its winter tour through Europe. “I can't wait to fire up my guitars,” he said,
When asked by Rolling Stone whether he was actually cleared by his medical team to do so, he said, “Well, they didn't say that … but they're freaking out over how well I've healed.”
Information about Throat Cancer
We don't know the details of Mustaine's case, but we do know that there are a few types of throat cancer, some of which are curable. "Hopefully, [the cancer is] just involved in the neck and in the lymph nodes because if that's the case, then we can use our treatments to cure the cancer," says Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist specializing in head and neck cancer at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center.
"But if the PET scan shows that the cancer has moved to the lungs or the liver, then our approach would not be to cure cancer but to treat it and to keep it under control," she says.
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