Hockey Player Announces His Cancer Is In Remission

February 24, 2019
Beth Fand Incollingo

CURE, Winter 2019, Volume 18, Issue 1

Brian Boyle, who plays center for the New Jersey Devils, has announced that his blood cancer is in remission.

Brian Boyle, who plays center for the New Jersey Devils, has announced that his blood cancer is in remission.

Boyle, 33, announced in October 2018 that there was no longer evidence in his blood of chronic myeloid leukemia. He received his diagnosis in September 2017, ESPN reported on its website.

NHL.com shared Boyle’s announce­ment: “A test (BCR-ABL) looks for the leukemia cells in your blood, and when I was first diagnosed, it was at 75 percent. At the end of last season, it was at 0.08 percent, and in July I was 0.04 percent. The results showed all zeros on Monday. It’s full molecular remission, and I feel really good.”

Boyle said he will continue to take a tar­geted medicine once a month to keep the cancer at bay and will be checked regularly by doctors, both websites reported.

He played in 69 games while undergoing treatment, ESPN stated, and was awarded the 2018 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for “perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedica­tion to hockey.”