Mantle Cancer Spreads Transplanted Liver Doing Well, But Hall Of Famer Has Cancer Spots On His Right Lung

Mickey Mantle has a “fighting chance” against the cancer that has developed in his right lung, but his doctor said Tuesday the baseball great would not have received a liver transplant if he had known the cancer had spread.

Mantle said in a statement taped Friday that “doctors found a couple of spots of cancer on my lungs” two weeks ago.

The Hall of Famer had returned Friday to Baylor University Medical Center, where he underwent a liver transplant June 8, and was released Tuesday morning. His original liver was damaged by combination of a cancerous tumor, a long-standing hepatitis infection and years of alcohol abuse.

Mantle’s doctors said at a news conference Tuesday they discovered in an examination during a routine follow-up that the cancer had spread to several small spots on Mantle’s right lung.

Doctors would not predict Mantle’s chances for survival as they had after the initial transplant, when they listed his five-year survival expectancy rate at 60 percent.

The lung cancer was not apparent three days before the transplant, but it’s now believed it was there, said Dr. Daniel DeMarco, a gastroenterologist treating Mantle. “… But it was undetectable.”

“If we had found any evidence of cancer outside the liver before we did the transplant, we would have backed out,” said Dr. Robert Goldstein, Mantle’s transplant surgeon. “Right now we have a new problem.”

Mantle has been undergoing chemother apy, which will continue. No further surgery, however, is planned at this time, his doctors said.

Because his liver is working very well, Mantle’s doctors said they will aggressively push his therapy.

In his statement, a wan-looking Mantle, weighing 175 pounds and wearing a cap and golf shirt, said: “Hi, this is Mick. When I left Baylor University Medical Center about six weeks ago, I felt great. …

“I come back to the hospital for checkups every once in a while, and about two weeks ago, the doctors found a couple of spots of cancer in my lungs.”

DeMarco said the “chances are real” that the cancer might spread to other organs.