Surviving Lymphoma & Celebrating Milestones
- Jeff Bridges, non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, has just turned 76. In honor of this birthday, Light in the Attic Records launched Episode 2 of a short documentary series highlighting the music caption in his weekly jams from the 70s.
- Bridges battled lymphoma and COVID-19, and previously sharing that his near-death experience inspired him to finally release these long-hidden recordings.
- Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system that affects infection-fighting cells called lymphocytes. And there are more than 40 different types of lymphoma. Bridges has shared that he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma are the two most common types.
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted drugs, and radiation, depending on type and stage.
Released on April 12, 2025, for Record Store Day, the album features a treasure trove of unreleased archival recordings from the late 1970s, capturing Bridges’ casual jam sessions with friends.
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Alongside the video clip of the episode, shared on Light In The Attic Record’s Instagram page, the caption reads, “In celebration of Jeff’s birthday, welcome to Episode 2 of the short doc series about the album ‘Slow Magic, 1977-1978.’ These long lost recordings are a window into the secret musical life of the Dude aka Jeff Bridges.
“This latest episode dives into the Wednesday Night Jam, a weekly no-holds barred get together in Culver City, California, where Jeff, friends and strangers would fully stretch out, musically-speaking.”
The record label adds, “As Sam Sweet says in his liner notes: Attendees were invited to participate in spontaneous music making. Steve Baim’s rules were simple: no songs, no blues, no preparation. Those who couldn’t sing were encouraged to sing. Musicians who could play were encouraged to take up instruments they had never tried.
“This doc series is compliments of filmmakers Isaac Gale, Paul Lovelace, and Ben Wu (the team behind the acclaimed 2025 documentary, Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted). Stay tuned for Episode 3 dropping later this month.”
Light In The Attic records noted this album is available on vinyl, CD, or through digital download/streaming for anyone interested in listening.
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During an earlier conversation with The New Yorker, after Bridges’ new album was commended as something that’s never been heard before, the Academy Award-winning actor said, “That’s great to hear! That’s what we like—fresh, right? Fifty years old and fresh!”
He continued, “A couple years ago I had cancer, and then I had COVID, and the COVID made the cancer look like nothing.
“Chemo had stripped me of my immune system. I was right at the door, you know? People didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”
Bridges explained, offering insight into what inspired him to go public with his music that has been kept hidden since the 70s, “I thought, Hey, look, Jeff, you’re seventy-three. Do you have the juice to go in and polish all these tunes that you have? Why not just put ’em out?
“There’s so much content now, or whatever they call it, in one sense, it’s kind of a good thing, because everything becomes less precious. So I thought, Well, this kind of bookends the whole thing.”
“This release is in the same spirit as the Wednesday-night jams,” he added.
Jeff Bridges’ Cancer Battle
Jeff Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020 and started chemotherapy treatment right away. He first went public with his cancer diagnosis on social media in October 2020, saying, “I have a great team of doctors, and the prognosis is good.”
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma—a cancer affecting lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell integral to the immune system—shortly after the production of “The Old Man” was paused in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bridges, who also battled COVID-19 during his cancer treatment, underwent chemotherapy and ultimately became cancer-free after his tumor decreased in size.
By September 2021, the actor revealed on his blog that his lymphoma had entered remission.
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“The 9″ x 12” mass has shrunk down to the size of a marble,” Bridges wrote. “Covid kicked my ass pretty good, but I’m double vaccinated and feeling much better now.”
Although Bridges hasn’t personally specified which type of lymphoma he was diagnosed with, AARP noted that his cancer was, in fact, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cancer of a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system.
While cancer treatment was going well, he was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in January 2021, and due to his cancer treatment having weakened his immune system, Bridges wound up spending months in the hospital.
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According to AARP, Bridges’ cancer went into remission quickly after he was put through chemotherapy infusion, which was followed by an oral chemo protocol.
He dubbed his wife as being his “absolute champion” as she stayed by Bridges’ side as he recovered from covid in the hospital. “She really fought to keep me off a ventilator. I didn’t want to be on it, and the doctors didn’t necessarily want that. But Sue was adamant,” he told the news outlet.
He was ultimately treated with a blood plasma called “convalescent plasma,” which consists of viral antibodies.
Despite his struggle, like so many cancer survivors, Bridges was left with a renewed appreciation for life.
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he told Esquire in an earlier interview. “I was on death’s door there for a while in the hospital. When I finally went back to work, after a two-year hiatus, it was the most bizarre kind of thing. It felt like a dream.”
“I came back after all that time, and saw the same faces [while shooting ‘The Old Man’], the same cast and crew,” he added. “It was like we had a long weekend. I gathered everyone and I said, ‘I had the most bizarre dream, you guys.’ I was sick and out, but all that feels like a gray mush now.”
What is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which has a few different subtypes, starts in a type of white blood cell known as the lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system. Once a diagnosis is received, a doctor must determine whether the cancer is indolent (slow-growing) or aggressive, and if the lymphocytes being affected are B-cells or T-cells. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. And the types of treatment needed are dependent on the type of subtype a patient has.
“For patients with indolent lymphomas, sometimes patients may not require therapy at the time of diagnosis, if they’re asymptomatic or have a low burden of disease, whereas patients with more aggressive lymphoma would require initiation of treatment,” Dr. Jennifer Crombie, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.
Dr. Crombie noted that when a patient is diagnosed with an aggressive type of lymphoma, “we do treat patients with chemotherapy.
“That’s the standard of care and our most common regimen that we use for patients is something called R-CHOP,” she continued.
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Treatment Options for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer of your immune system. It starts in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels, ducts, and nodes that run throughout your body.
This system drains excess fluid and waste from your tissues and drains them into your bloodstream. It also produces disease-fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes that defend your body against infections.
“I always advise that people understand their specific type of lymphoma because there are over 40 different types,” Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.
Lymphoma starts when lymphocytes develop a genetic mutation that makes them multiply much faster than usual. The mutation also makes older cells that would normally die stay alive. The quickly multiplying lymphocytes start to collect and build up in your lymph nodes, the small glands in your neck, armpits, and other parts of your body.
“At the beginning of a conversation with a patient, we have to talk about exactly which type of lymphoma they have,” Dr. Lawrence Piro told SurvivorNet.
“There are some lymphomas that are very treatable, but not curable,” Dr. Piro added.
“On the contrary, there are some lymphomas that, if you don’t treat them, they’ll progress rapidly, and you may succumb to it, yet there are very intensive treatments that you can take that may cure you,” he adds. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is an example of an aggressive but treatable cancer.
There are no screening tests for lymphomas and symptoms can be hard to identify so doctors typically perform a biopsy on a lymph node to accurately determine if non-Hodgkin lymphoma exists. However, some common symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma include:
- Swollen glands
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
How Is Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Treated?
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma treatment depends on the type of lymphoma, the stage, and how fast it is growing. People with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma can expect to get a chemotherapy combination called R-CHOP, which is a drug cocktail consisting of chemotherapy drugs, plus an antibody drug and a steroid to treat diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Here’s how the acronym breaks down:
- R: Rituximab (Rituxan) is a monoclonal antibody that attaches to a specific protein called CD20, which sits on the surface of
- B cells. It targets the cancerous cells and destroys them.
- C: Cyclophosphamide is a type of chemotherapy drug
- D: Doxorubicin hydrochloride (hydroxydaunomycin) is a type of chemotherapy drug
- V: Vincristine sulfate (Oncovin) is a type of chemotherapy drug
- P: Prednisone is a steroid, which lowers inflammation
Patients receiving R-CHOP receive the drug in six cycles that are three weeks apart.
“R-CHOP is a cocktail of drugs. There are five different drugs in that recipe,” Dr. Jennifer Crombie, medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, tells SurvivorNet.
WATCH: Understanding R-CHOP treatment.
Using Immunotherapy and Targeted Treatments for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Rituximab (Rituxan) was the very first immunotherapy drug approved to treat some forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It’s “Rituximab is the immunotherapy that has been approved the longest and we have the most experience with for lymphoma,” Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.
The immunotherapy drug works by seeking out and sticking to another type of protein called an antigen on the surface of infection-fighting white blood cells, called B cells. The antigen in this case is CD20. Rituxan will only work on cancerous B cells with the CD20 antigen on their surface. Most T-cell lymphomas don’t contain this protein, which is why this treatment isn’t effective against them.
Rituxan can be prescribed as the very first treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or after you’ve already been on chemotherapy. Your doctor can prescribe this drug on its own (which is called monotherapy), or together with chemotherapy (which doctors call chemoimmunotherapy).
Rituxan does come with side effects which may include fever, chills, swelling under the skin, itching, and mild shortness of breath.
WATCH: How Adcetris helps treat Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) is a relatively new targeted treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma. This drug is an antibody-drug conjugate that combines an antibody (a type of protein that recognizes foreign substances in the body) with a drug that treats cancer. It uses a special protein to deliver medicine directly into the cancer cell.
When it locks onto that protein, “It has a bit of poison that it injects into the cancer cell to kill the cell,” Dr. Sairah Ahmed, associate professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
The main side effects are low levels of certain blood cells, including the white blood cells that help your body fight infections. Your doctor can prescribe growth factors to stimulate your body’s white blood cell production and protect you against infections while you’re on this treatment.
Treating non-Hodgkin Lymphoma with Radiation
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can also be treated with radiation which aims beams of intense energy at the cancer to stop cancer cells from growing and dividing.
One area where radiation is especially effective is in consolidation therapy. This is when you get radiation after other treatments, to try to get rid of any cancer cells that might still remain in your body.
Radiation works particularly well in people with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “For patients with stage I and stage II disease, the outcomes are excellent, approaching 90%,” Dr. Chelsea Pinnix, radiation oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
Although radiation therapy is quite helpful for treating non-Hodgkin lymphoma, it does come with side effects. The side effects may include red or blistered skin, mouth sores, nausea, and vomiting.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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