Babe Ruth

Cancer Type – Throat

Bio – The American Baseball hero lost his battle to throat cancer at the age of 53, partially brought on by his fondness for tobacco and liquor.

Short Story – Nicknamed the “Bambino,” this Major League Baseball star played from 1914 – 1935, 22 seasons. Considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, achieving his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees.

Babe Ruth was a larger-than-life legend in the Roaring Twenties. Yet, it wasn’t until after his career in 1946, that he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his neck. Experiencing severe pain in his left eye, doctors removed a mass that had encircled his left carotid artery in November 1946. He received post-op radiation therapy and left the hospital 80 pounds lighter, 4 months later (February 1947).

Ruth suffered from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPCA), a rare tumor located at the back of the nose near the eustachian tube.

He underwent experimental treatment, not knowing it was for cancer. His case was one of the first to use the methotrexate drug.

Babe Ruth passed in 1948, believing he was “The Luckiest Man” in the world.

Image Credits – By Irwin, La Broad, & Pudlin. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons