Stryper frontman Michael Sweet has shared an encouraging update on his battle with papillary thyroid cancer, telling fans that his latest scans came back clean and that the disease has not spread. The Christian rock veteran was diagnosed last fall, less than a month after a biopsy on a nodule in the right lobe of his thyroid.
Speaking during a Facebook Live on Friday, June 26, Sweet walked fans through a nerve-wracking appointment that ultimately brought relief. He explained that his care team is using an approach called active surveillance — monitoring the cancer rather than rushing into surgery.
“I went to have my six-month checkup yesterday, and they call it active surveillance. So that’s what they’re doing right now with me regarding my thyroid cancer. People say, ‘Don’t say ‘my thyroid cancer’. Don’t claim it.’ So I’ll just say the cancer that’s right there [on my left side]. And they did an ultrasound. It was quite extensive and quite lengthy, and they were obviously checking out not just that, but this side [the right side] as well, and all my lymph nodes, and just checking my whole area out. All this stuff. And it was making me a little nervous because it went on and on — much longer than usual. It’s usually typically half the time. And it just kept going. She kept beeping and typing, and beeping and typing, and beeping and typing. And after a while, my mind started racing. I started thinking, ‘Okay, is she seeing more? What’s going on?’ So after that appointment, I went up to my doctor’s office and met with my doctor. I went in the room and I waited quite a while, and went in another room and waited quite a while. And once the door opened, three doctors walked in. And I gotta tell you, [my wife] Lisa and I looked at each other, and my heart started racing because that’s never happened either. And thank God, the first of the three doctors, a young gentleman who was amazing, he said to me, ‘First of all, everything’s good.’ And then, phew, I breathed a sigh of relief. But the initial walk-in of the three doctors was kind of scary, to be honest, because between that and the ultrasound, I felt, like, ‘Okay, something’s going on,'” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Sweet then shared the heart of the good news — the cancer remains contained, slow-growing, and unchanged from six months earlier.
He continued: “This is what happens with all of us. This is human nature. We sometimes think the worst, when we really should be thinking the best, and it’s easy to go there. No matter how prayed up you are, how positive you are, it’s easy to go there. So that’s where my mind was going, and thank God he said everything looks great. Nothing has spread to my lymph nodes. The cancer is surrounded by healthy tissue. It’s a papillary cancer, so it’s very slow-growing. It’s not aggressive. It hasn’t changed at all since the last time I had it checked in six months. So now they wanna check me in eight months, which, it wound up being nine months because I couldn’t get in in eight months ’cause I have things going on. But so nine months they’re gonna check me again and see where I’m at. And I guess, with my age and the type of cancer that it is, it’s very possible, actually probable, that it’s not going to grow, or at least aggressively. So I asked the doctors point-blank, ‘What are the odds of me being late 70s, early 80s, and this hasn’t changed?’ And they said, ‘Actually, very good.’ So there’s that possibility, a very strong possibility, and that’s where I’m at. They’re hesitant on surgery right now because of where it is. It’s much closer to my vocal nerve. And obviously, there’s that risk of vocal nerve damage. But if it came down to it, push comes to shove, if it meant me having damage in my vocal nerve and not being able to sing, I would take that any day of the week over an aggressive form of cancer spreading or anything like that. So I wanna be smart, I wanna be wise. I’m following my doctors’ leads. They’re the best team I think I could have. I’m in the best place possible for this, which is Boston Mass Eye And Ear, which is part of Mass General Brigham, and all that good stuff. And I’m in the best hands and best care possible.”
Sweet thanked his supporters and said he’s holding onto hope for an even better outcome down the line.
“So there you go, guys. I’m just gonna follow their lead. But you know what? I appreciate the prayers, continued prayers, ’cause I’m believing in a miracle that I’m gonna go there, and they’re gonna check me out, and it’s gonna be gone. And I know God can do that. I’ve had friends that have experienced that. They’ve had tumors, and they’ve been gone, and they’ve disappeared, just through the power of prayer or through alternative medicine or something else that they’re doing or what have you. But regardless, I’m praying for that. So if you guys could keep me in your prayers regarding that… My voice is fine. It’s just gotten older. I had that checked as well recently. No surgery required for that. I have some stiffening of the vocal folds and rigidness, and I have tremors in my vocal cords, which means that I have an uncontrollable shakiness in my voice. So if you hear that lately, that explains that. And they gave me some medication to try for that a lot of entertainers actually take, and it didn’t help me. And it actually made the bathroom runs worse. So without getting graphic or into details, I’ll leave it at that. But you guys, I’m okay. I’m okay. As the song says, I’m all right. I’m okay. That’s why I wrote that song. And I can’t thank you enough. It means the world to me to be able to call on you to pray for me and to keep me in your thoughts and your prayers. It really does.”
Sweet also floated a plan to bring his community together more regularly through a dedicated prayer session.
“I wanna start, actually, at least a monthly, maybe a weekly — I don’t know if time will permit — but at least a monthly a prayer Facebook group live where we can come in here and we can pray for each other. I think that would be amazing. It would be phenomenal and kind of something different instead of just the same old typical Facebook stuff, which tends to be a little dramatic sometimes and a little TMZ-ish, as we all see. But I would love to have a time of prayer where we can pray for one another, ’cause we all need prayer. We all have things going on. We all have things that we want lifted up, and we’re asking God to take care of. And if we pray for one another, God’s gonna hear our prayers. There’s gonna be more power in those prayers. And I don’t know if you guys believe that. I do. And I know some of you do, maybe most of you, but I know some of you don’t, and that’s okay, too. But maybe you’ll get to a point where you will. And I’m telling you right now, there’s power in prayer. It changes lives. It can change everything, and that’s why we need to pray for not only ourselves and our physical ailments, but also for our country, for our leaders, for our neighbors, for our loved ones, our family, for our friends, for all the people around us who are going through trials and tribulations and suffering because of them. It’s important for us to take a moment to pray. It doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s very simple,” he concluded.
Sweet recently opened up about his ongoing battle with thyroid cancer and how the diagnosis has profoundly reshaped his worldview. During a recent interview with the “Christian Music Guys” podcast, he explained that facing his own mortality forced him to reevaluate his daily priorities and ultimately surrender control of his situation.
“Well, look, I tell you, I’ve been going through some health issues. I think most people know that. And I’m just kind of putting everything in God’s hands. And one thing that it’s taught me is how to do just that. And I found that until I was diagnosed — I have thyroid cancer, so they’re keeping an eye on everything, and I’m doing fine at the moment — but until I was diagnosed, I didn’t really think much about my mortality or the ever after, just being honest. But then the minute you’re faced with something like that, you do think about that. And it’s something we all better think about, because we’re all gonna face it. And what it did, in my mind, in my heart, is made me want to change my perspective and my priorities on life and try to put what’s important at the top of the list and what’s not important at the bottom of the list. That’s easier said than done, but if you can do that, you’re gonna be a lot better off by doing so. And I think that’s something that — my diagnosis has helped me somewhat to do that, and I’m very happy about that. And then just losing so many people, man,” he explained at the time.
The musician then reflected on the fragility of life, pointing to the sudden and tragic passing of his former Boston bandmate, Tommy DeCarlo, as a sobering reminder that tomorrow is never guaranteed.
“I don’t know about you guys, but it’s something I’ve really noticed the past year is how many people have gone. Just recently, Tommy DeCarlo. I was singing with Tommy in Boston. He’s gone. And if you had asked me a year ago if I would see that happening, I would say ‘no way’. But it’s reality. And not to sound morbid, but it’s coming for us all. And that’s why it’s important to stay humble and put God first. And let God lead your path and lead your way. And wake up every morning and say a simple prayer. Go to bed every night and say a simple prayer. Start and end your days with prayer. It doesn’t have to be anything long. Bring God into your day. Let him be a part of it. And if you do, you are gonna be a lot better off.”
The frontman remains active with several recent musical releases. Stryper released their all-original studio album, When We Were Kings, in September 2024, followed by a Christmas album titled The Greatest Gift Of All in November 2025 through Frontiers Music Srl.
