Dick Vitale Says Tests 'Very Good' After 5th Cancer Diagnosis
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- Dick Vitale, 87, reported on social media Wednesday that recent blood tests came back "very good" and that his immunotherapy treatments are "very effective in wiping out the cancer."
- Vitale's cancer history spans melanoma (2021), lymphoma, vocal cord cancer (2023), and lymph node cancer (2024, treated with surgery), with his April announcement marking a fifth diagnosis.
- Vitale appeared on ESPN a few times last season but has made no announcements about the upcoming college basketball season.
- The Jimmy V Award, which Vitale received in 2022 for perseverance, is named for his late close friend and college basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of adenocarcinoma in 1993.
- The V Foundation for Cancer Research, which Valvano helped found before his death, has been a long-running beneficiary of Vitale's fundraising efforts.
Why it matters: For an 87-year-old facing a fifth cancer diagnosis, "very good" blood results and effective immunotherapy are a genuinely encouraging medical update — and one that matters to college basketball fans wondering whether Vitale, a fixture of ESPN's broadcasts, will return to the booth this season.
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