Jurassic Park star Sam Neill got emotional while revealing that he’s cancer-free after a pricey treatment.
The 78-year-old Hollywood star, best known for playing Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, opened up about his close brush with death after chemotherapy stopped working during his five-year battle with stage-three blood cancer in a new interview.
He admitted that a cutting-edge treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies blood cells, saved his life. However, with his $18 million net worth, he was able to afford the whopping $540k price tag.
In his new interview with Australian network 7 News, Neill said, “I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business, but it was keeping me alive.
“Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously.”
The actor added, “I’ve just had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing. I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy. It genetically modifies a patient’s T-cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. It is primarily used for blood cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The treatment is still in clinical trials, but to treat another blood cancer, myeloma.
A hematologist Professor told 7 News, “[We] turbocharge those cells to then be able to now recognize the myeloma, which was not visible to the immune system before and then jump on it and kill it.”
Neill is now planning to return to acting. He said, “It’s time I did another movie.”
Neill first announced his cancer diagnosis in 2023. Doctors diagnosed him with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma the previous year after he initially experienced swollen glands.
He discovered his stage-three blood cancer while promoting Jurassic World Dominion in 2022.
The film sees him reprise his role as Grant alongside original co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. The film also stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
He told Australian Story at the time, “I’m not in any way frightened of dying. That doesn’t worry me. It’s never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed.
“I’d be annoyed because there are things I still want to do. Very irritating, dying. But I’m not afraid of it.”
Neill disclosed the news of his illness in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This. In the first chapter, he writes that he is “possibly dying.”
At the time, his specific illness was diagnosed as angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. Symptoms include high fever, night sweats, skin rash, and autoimmune disorders.
Reflecting on life at the time, the actor said that he did not fear death, admitting, “I’m not afraid to die. But it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know?
“We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren.
“I want to see them get big. “But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.”
Neill was married to Japanese makeup artist Noriko Watanabe from 1989 to 2017. They share two kids: Elena, 35, and Tim, 43.
The actor starred in three Jurassic Park films, including the original in 1993, Jurassic Park III in 2001, and Jurassic World Dominion in 2022.
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