Roman Reigns says he is still fighting chronic myeloid leukemia, known as CML, and has not reached full molecular remission. Reigns made the comments in a Men's Health cover story published September 30 and on the magazine's "Strong Talk" podcast, according to Wrestling Inc and Yahoo Sports.
Yahoo Sports quoted Reigns as saying: "I'm still, to this day, down to the wire fighting CML. So I have to be very, very careful when it comes to different things like that." He described the disease as "under control" and "under the actual baseline," but said that is not the same as being in molecular remission.
Reigns explained what the term requires. Wrestling Inc reported that he said "to be in molecular remission, it has to be almost zeroed out." He gave .0031 as an example of a trace amount that still counts against that standard, a figure he cited in conversation rather than a lab result released by WWE.
The comments came as Reigns discussed peptides, which he called "overrated" for someone in his position, Yahoo Sports wrote. Wrestling Inc quoted him as saying, "With my medical history, I have to be very careful." Yahoo Sports reported that he avoids invasive substances because he cannot risk complications.
Reigns has spoken publicly about CML before. Both outlets recounted that he was diagnosed in his early twenties, during his college football days, and later announced remission. He revealed in October 2018 that the leukemia had returned and relinquished his title, then came back to wrestling in February 2019 after announcing he was in remission again.
No timeline for reaching molecular remission has been reported. For now, by his own account, the disease is under control and he is still fighting it.
