Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Berry diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma

Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry has been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma by doctors at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, the team announced Monday.

“This is a diagnosis that is very treatable and potentially curable with standard chemotherapy approaches,” Christopher R. Flowers, M.D., director of the Emory Lymphoma Program at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute, said in a statement released by the team. “The goal of Mr. Berry’s treatment is to cure his lymphoma, and we are beginning that treatment now.”

Berry also issued a statement: “My family and I are very grateful for the amount of support we have received over the last couple of weeks. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes. I want to thank the Emory University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Flowers and his team, for all of their hard work and effort in diagnosing and creating a plan for me to battle this thing. I will embrace this process and attack it the same way I do everything else in life. God has more than prepared me for it. For everyone sharing similar struggles, I’m praying for you and keep fighting!”

In late November, a mass was discovered in Berry’s chest. Berry was placed on the season-ending non-football-illness list.

The American Cancer Society’s website says, “the 1-year relative survival rate for all patients diagnosed with Hodgkin disease is now about 92%; the 5-year and 10-year survival rates are about 85% and 80%, respectively.”

Get better soon, Eric.