Alabama Athletic Director Bill Battle to Undergo Cancer Treatment
The University of Alabama has announced that Athletic Director Bill Battle will undergo more treatments for multiple myeloma, a condition he has been dealing with privately for more than two years. In a statement, the University says that while the treatment will keep him away from his office for a few weeks, he will continue to direct the Department of Athletics while in daily communication with senior athletics officials.
The statement says Battle will undergo a stem cell transplant under the supervision of Sagar Lonial, M.D., a world-renowned expert in the research and treatment of multiple myeloma, at The Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Center at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta. Currently, Battle is in excellent health and his condition is not considered life-threatening, the University says. Dr. Lonial describes the disease as being in “a good partial remission,” noting that the procedure is the standard “next step” of treatment.
Battle’s illness was originally detected in March of 2014 during a regularly scheduled executive physical at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health and Wellness Center in Birmingham. At that time, a radiologist discovered a small tumor on a spinal vertebra.
In May of 2014, Battle received radiation therapy at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and his condition was monitored for the next year by UAB’s Medical Oncology Department. In May of 2015, a diagnosis of early stage one multiple myeloma was made at UAB. In June of that year, Battle received a consultation at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Orlowski. Dr. Orlowski recommended that he begin a chemotherapy regimen and, at some point a stem cell transplant using his own stem cells. Dr. Lonial later supported Dr. Orlowski’s diagnosis that a stem cell transplant would be the appropriate treatment.
In August of 2015, Battle began the first of three courses of chemotherapy at Manderson Cancer Center in Tuscaloosa under the care of Dr. David Hinton. That treatment put the cancer into what is presently described by his doctors as a good partial remission.
“Coach Battle has done very well with his treatment,” Hinton said. “He is in great physical shape, has responded very well to all of his treatment so far, and we expect an excellent response from this stage of treatment as well. The purpose of this procedure is to prolong his remission. He has been very active, exercising, staying in great shape, and he will to be able to continue that lifestyle after completing this phase of treatment.”
