‘Full House’ Star David Coulier Announces Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis. What you should know about non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the symptom that made the actor aware of it.

Former Full house Star Dave Coulier has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, the actor announced on the website Today Wednesday show. The 65-year-old actor said he had no symptoms until a cold left him with a golf ball-sized swelling in his groin. A visit to the doctor about the unusual lump ultimately led to Coulier’s cancer diagnosis. It was a “punch in the gut,” he said Today. Coulier is currently undergoing treatment and says the prognosis is good – a result he attributes to rapid screening. Here’s what you should know about Coulier’s diagnosis.

How Dave Coulier found out he had cancer

A little over a month ago, Coulier came down with a cold. He told Today He used to be used to swollen lymph nodes in his neck and armpits when he had mild illnesses. This often occurs when the body increases the production of immune cells to fight off a cold. But within a few days, he developed much more dramatic inflammation in a new location, his groin. “It swelled immediately,” Coulier said Today.

The enlarged lump made Coulier suspect he might be sicker than he thought, so he visited his doctor. PET and CT scans, an EKG and blood tests were all normal, but it was only a precautionary biopsy that revealed Coulier had cancer. “Hey, we wish we had better news, but you have non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a B-cell lymphoma,” Coulier’s doctors told him. “The first thing I said to them was, ‘Wait a minute – cancer?'”

Next, Coulier had to have a bone marrow biopsy to find out if the cancer had spread, which determines its stage. “It was a mystery for a few days because I didn’t know what stage it was at or if it was advanced,” he said. The results showed his non-Hodgkin lymphoma was stage 3, meaning the disease was present in multiple areas of the lymphatic system but not in other organs, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Once his cancer stage was reached, doctors quickly scheduled Coulier for surgery to place a port through which he would receive chemotherapy. “You hear about chemotherapy and it scares you,” he said Today. “The first round was pretty intense because you don’t know what to expect.” Coulier has undergone at least one round of chemotherapy and will receive a total of six chemotherapy treatments, every 21 days and through February. In total, Coulier said he underwent three surgeries in addition to chemotherapy, causing him to lose “a little bit of hair.” Because his cancer has not spread beyond the lymphatic system, his doctors estimate that his disease has about a 90% chance of being cured and he expects a “complete remission,” Coulier said.

What is Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?

It is a form of blood cancer that affects the white blood cells of the infection-fighting lymphatic system. Non-Hodgkin’s and Hodgkin’s lymphoma are similar diseases but are treated differently, according to the ACS. In both cases, cancer cells begin to proliferate in the lymph nodes (interconnected, bean-sized collections of immune cells throughout the body, including the breast, neck, abdomen, and pelvis), in the spleen, which produces immune cells, or in the bone marrow, or in the lymphatic tissue of the digestive tract or throat.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (sometimes simply called NHL) accounts for about 4% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States, and about 80,620 Americans are expected to be diagnosed in 2024, according to the ACS. On average, about 74% of people with NHL survive at least five years, including between 71% and 77% of those diagnosed at stage 3, like Coulier. While Coulier is very optimistic about his forecast, he is also comfortable with the uncertainty. He said to his wife, “I don’t know why, but I do [am] Okay, whatever the news may be [is] will be, no matter how devastating,” it says Today. But Coulier also said cancer is “quite a battle, and you have to do your best.”

Chemotherapy is the first line of treatment for NHL. However, depending on the stage, some patients also undergo radiation, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, surgery or a stem cell transplant.

Know your risks and get examined

As with many cancers, a family history of the disease and older age are risk factors for NHL, which typically affects people between the ages of 65 and 74, according to the National Cancer Institute. It is also more common in men and white people than in women or people of color. People with weakened immune systems due to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or HIV are also at higher risk, and certain infections, including Epstein-Barr virus, may increase the chance of developing NHL. As with colon cancer, a high BMI can further increase your risk, says the ACS.

Coulier’s main symptom – severely swollen lymph nodes – is a common first sign of NHL, according to the ACS. Other symptoms include fever with no apparent cause, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, rash or itchy skin, and unexplained pain in the chest, stomach, or bones. Although these symptoms can usually be explained by something else, if they are persistent it is worth getting them checked out.

Examining his swollen lymph nodes may have saved Coulier’s life, and he hopes his example will encourage others to do the same. “If I can help someone … do an early screening — a breast exam, a colonoscopy, a prostate exam — then do it, because for me, early detection meant everything,” Coulier said Today.