Managing to Live Life to the Fullest as a Cancer Survivor
- WWE superstar Roman Reigns, aka Joe Anoai, has made his long-awaited television return just in time for the Fall season. Anoai now works a part-time schedule partly because of his diagnosis, which is now in remission.
- Anoai was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a type of cancer of the white blood cells, when he was 22 years old. He currently takes medication as a maintenance therapy while in remission.
- In CML, blast cells (immature white blood cells) form and uncontrollably multiply and divide, impairing the body’s ability to make normal, healthy blood cells.
- CML is not strongly associated with environmental factors or family history. Often, patients are diagnosed after a routine blood test suggests something may be wrong and are referred to a specialist.
- Targeted therapies can specifically target CML cells while sparing healthy body cells. Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) are targeted therapies that block the abnormal protein made by the CML cells, eventually killing them.
WWE megastar Joe Anoai, better known by his stage name “Roman Reigns,” is back in the wrestling ring after taking a few months’ hiatus in April. Anoai, 39, is a cancer survivor, having lived with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer, since 2007. He now wrestles with a part-time schedule partly because he wishes to spend more time with his family and because of his diagnosis.
Anoai returned to weekly television earlier this month following WWE’s annual summertime premium live event, “Summer Slam,” in Cleveland, Ohio.
Read MoreView this post on InstagramAnoai is expected to appear on weekly television periodically throughout the Fall season as WWE Smackdown switches from Fox to the USA Network.
The multi-time wrestling champion went public with his leukemia diagnosis in October 2018 at a television taping in Providence, Rhode Island. At the time, he relinquished the championship because he needed to undergo treatment after experiencing a relapse, something most leukemia patients are faced with.
Anoai’s leukemia was caught in an early stage, making it easier to treat. He revealed on an A&E documentary earlier this Spring that he takes medication since reentering remission.
“For leukemia, if you caught it in an early stage like I did, you’re able to take a medication, a very important medication, that I am still on to this day,” Anoai said in the A&E documentary “Biography: WWE Legends.”
“It’s pretty much just a conditioning of getting your body used to these toxic medications and just hoping for the best,” Anoai added.
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Anoai has evolved into a real-life superhero, especially for young people facing cancer, such as himself.
“As a father and a leukemia survivor, I want to help others going through a similar experience,” Anoai previously wrote in an Instagram post.
Expert Resources on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Better Understanding Reigns’ Leukemia Diagnosis and How Patients Cope Diagnosed With It
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myelogenous leukemia, is a type of cancer of the white blood cells. As the disease progresses, CML cells crowd out healthy cells and eventually build up and spill over into the blood. Although CML usually grows slowly, it can also turn into a faster-growing acute leukemia, which is more challenging to treat.
WATCH: Diagnosing CML Without Obvious Symptoms
“What happens with CML is there is a cross of your chromosomes, so there is a cross between chromosome 9 and chromosome 22,” Dr. Eric Winer, clinical director of adult leukemia at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, tells SurvivorNet.
Crossing chromosomes creates a gene called BRC-ABL, which eventually causes the overproduction of cells seen in CML.
Patients diagnosed early tend to have better outcomes.
“It’s important for patients diagnosed with CML to understand that their prognosis is quite favorable,” Dr. Jay Yang, hematologist, medical oncologist, and leader of the Hematology-Oncology Multidisciplinary Team at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, tells SurvivorNet. “With modern treatments, most patients will go on to live healthy and productive lives with a normal life expectancy.”
Typical Leukemia Symptoms
Symptoms for CML are often vague, as many other ailments can cause them. However, common symptoms include:
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Night sweats
- Weight loss
- Fever
- Bone pain
- An enlarged spleen (which may be felt as a mass under the left side of the ribcage)
- Pain or a sense of fullness in the stomach
- Feeling full after a small amount of food
WATCH: The Different Phases of CML Explained
Treating Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
The treatment path that you and your doctor take may depend on several factors, including your age, overall health, and whether the cancer has spread or metastasized to other parts of the body. However, common treatment options to fight leukemia include:
- Chemotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Radiation therapy
- Bone marrow or stem cell transplantEngineering immune cells to fight leukemia with CAR-T cell therapy, in which the body’s germ-fighting T cells are reengineered to fight the cancer and infused back into your body. CAR-T might be an option for children and young adults.
WATCH: Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy
Dr. Eric Winer, Clinal Director for Adult Leukemia at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, explains to SurvivorNet how TKI treatment works in a way many video gamers can relate to.
“To oversimplify, imagine the videogame Pac-Man. These energy packets [Adenosine triphosphates (ATPs). These are energy stores within cells] that go into the mouth of the Pac-Man [BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase], causing it to change its conformation and shape [This] forces the CML cells to multiply. All of the TKIs block the entrance of the energy packet into the mouth of the Pac-Man, [so it] cannot change its confirmation,” Dr. Winer explains.
There are several TKIs on the market. Those approved as the first line of defense against CML include:
- Imatinib (brand name: Gleevec)
- Dasatinib (brand name: Sprycel)
- Nilotinib (brand name: Tasigna)
- Bosutinib (brand name: Bosulif)
- Ponatinib (brand name: Iclusig)
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