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What Eric Berry's Comeback Can Teach Us About Hodgkin Lymphoma
The All-Pro safety was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2014 and returned to the NFL less than a year later. Here is what that diagnosis really means.
A plain-language summary based on public reporting and trusted sources, linked below.
Please note: this page is educational only — it is not medical advice, and it does not speculate about anyone’s health beyond reliable public reporting. For questions about your own health, talk with your healthcare team.
How it started
ESPN reported the sequence. Eric Berry, then a 25-year-old safety for the Kansas City Chiefs, felt chest discomfort after a game against the Raiders on November 20, 2014. Testing found a mass in his chest. Further tests in Atlanta confirmed Hodgkin lymphoma.
His doctor, Christopher Flowers at Emory University Hospital, said in a statement released through the team that this was "a diagnosis that is very treatable and potentially curable with standard chemotherapy approaches."
Berry spoke to reporters the following summer, back on the practice field. NFL.com quoted him. "It was a battle every day," he said. "I had to set goals to where I would just get out the bed." He described training through chemotherapy and crying after workouts, unable to believe how hard they had become.
Everything above is what he and his team chose to say. Nothing here is about his private care.
A cancer that often shows up in the chest
Hodgkin lymphoma starts in the lymph system, the network of vessels, nodes and organs that carries immune cells around the body. NCI notes it most often forms in lymph nodes above the diaphragm, and often in the mediastinum, which is the space between the lungs.
That is why chest symptoms come up. A growing mass there can press on the airway or the tissue around the heart. Discomfort after physical contact is easy to read as a bruise.
Two main types exist. Classic Hodgkin lymphoma is by far the more common and has four subtypes, including nodular sclerosing. The other, nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma, is rare, grows more slowly, and is treated differently.
NCI lists four risk factors: age, being male, past Epstein-Barr virus infection in childhood or the teenage years, and a parent or sibling with Hodgkin lymphoma. Age comes in two peaks, in early adulthood between 20 and 39 and again after 65. SEER puts the median age at diagnosis at 38, with 31.7% of cases found in people aged 20 to 34. Our page comparing Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma explains why the split matters.
How the diagnosis is made
The answer comes from a lymph node, not from a scan. NCI describes a lymph node biopsy in which all of a node (an excisional biopsy), part of one (incisional), or a core of tissue is removed. A pathologist then looks for Reed-Sternberg cells: large, abnormal white blood cells that may hold more than one nucleus. They are the signature of classic Hodgkin lymphoma.
Blood tests run alongside it. NCI lists a complete blood count, blood chemistry, an LDH level, a sedimentation rate that measures inflammation, and tests for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, because those change what treatment is safe.
Staging is done with a PET-CT scan, which merges a scan showing where sugar is being consumed with a detailed anatomical scan. Stage runs from I to IV. Doctors also ask about what they call B symptoms: fever with no known cause, drenching night sweats, or unexplained weight loss. Those affect the plan. Our guide to Hodgkin lymphoma pathology and molecular results explains the report.
What the treatment costs, then and later
Treatment is combination chemotherapy, meaning more than one drug given together, often with radiation aimed at affected nodes. NCI groups patients as early favorable, early unfavorable or advanced, and the group sets how much treatment is given.
Berry's description of the fatigue is the ordinary experience, not an athlete's exaggeration. It is why the treatment is measured in months.
The part that gets less attention is the long tail. NCI states that chemotherapy and radiation for Hodgkin lymphoma raise the risk of later health problems, sometimes many years on. The list includes second cancers, among them acute myelogenous leukemia and solid tumors of the lung, breast, thyroid and elsewhere; infertility; an underactive thyroid; heart disease; lung problems; severe infection; lasting fatigue; and trouble with thinking and memory. NCI recommends long-term follow-up with doctors who know how to look for these. Our page on late effects of cancer treatment covers what that follow-up involves.
The numbers behind "very treatable"
An American Cancer Society projection, published by SEER, gives 8,920 new US cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and 1,100 deaths in 2026. SEER's measured five-year relative survival across all stages, for people diagnosed between 2016 and 2022, is 89.3%.
By stage it is 92.7% for stage I, 95.4% for stage II, 87.7% for stage III and 82.8% for stage IV. Stage IV Hodgkin lymphoma has a better five-year figure than stage IV in almost any other cancer, which is what Berry's doctor meant.
These are group averages from past years. They describe a population, not a person.
When to get checked
NCI lists symptoms worth a doctor's visit when they do not go away:
- A painless swollen lymph node in the neck, underarm or groin lasting more than two to four weeks
- Fever with no known cause
- Night sweats heavy enough to soak the sheets
- Weight loss you cannot explain over the past six months
- Itchy skin, especially after a bath or after drinking alcohol
- Feeling very tired
- Chest pressure, a cough or breathlessness that does not settle
Swollen nodes are usually infection. What separates them is that an infected node hurts, and shrinks within a few weeks.
What this does not mean
- Berry and his team disclosed the diagnosis and the fact of chemotherapy. His stage, subtype and drug regimen were not made public, and none is stated here.
- "Very treatable" is a statement about the disease type. It is not a promise about any individual.
- A comeback timeline set by a professional athlete with full-time medical support is not a benchmark for anyone else.
- There is no screening test for Hodgkin lymphoma. Noticing symptoms is the only route to an early diagnosis.
- High survival does not make treatment easy or its late effects small.
Sources
- ESPN, Chiefs' Eric Berry diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma — https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/12000374/eric-berry-kansas-city-chiefs-diagnosed-hodgkin-lymphoma
- NFL.com, Eric Berry on recovery: 'It was a battle every day' — https://www.nfl.com/news/eric-berry-on-recovery-it-was-a-battle-every-day-0ap3000000504738
- NCI PDQ, Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (Patient Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/lymphoma/patient/adult-hodgkin-treatment-pdq
- NCI PDQ, Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment (Health Professional Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/lymphoma/hp/adult-hodgkin-treatment-pdq
- SEER Cancer Stat Facts, Hodgkin Lymphoma — https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/hodg.html
How this article was prepared
An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.
The National Cancer Information Foundation publishes Cancer Explained. This page is for learning. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.
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Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to Hodgkin lymphoma. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.