The short answer
Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on Full House, revealed in November 2024 that he had Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive B-cell type, found after a lump appeared in his groin. He had chemotherapy and reached remission within months. He was later treated for an unrelated cancer and, as of early 2026, said he was in remission from both.
Dave Coulier announced in November 2024 that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive B-cell type.
He noticed his first symptom after a cold, when he found a golf-ball-sized lump in his groin along with swollen lymph nodes.
He was treated with chemotherapy and, by his own account, reached remission within a few months.
Because the cancer had not spread to his bone marrow, his doctors told him the curability rate was high.
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The full explanation.
Who he is
Dave Coulier is an actor and comedian best known to millions of viewers as Uncle Joey Gladstone on Full House and its revival, Fuller House. A longtime stand-up comic with a gift for voices and impressions, he has spent decades making audiences laugh. In late 2024, he brought that same warmth and humor to a much harder subject: his own cancer diagnosis.
The diagnosis
In November 2024, Coulier revealed on the TODAY show that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive B-cell type of the disease. The way he found it began quietly. He came down with what felt like an ordinary cold, and within about a week he discovered a golf-ball-sized lump in his groin. He had a history of swollen lymph nodes when he got sick, but this felt different — and it was.
He described how fast it all moved. In his words, in the span of a few short weeks he had gone "from a Virgo to a Cancer" — a joke that captured how suddenly his life had changed. By the time he spoke publicly, only weeks after the diagnosis, he had already undergone several surgeries and begun chemotherapy, and had lost some of his hair.
The treatment
Coulier was treated with chemotherapy. Stage 3, he acknowledged, does not sound reassuring — but his doctors gave him an encouraging picture. Because the cancer had not spread to his bone marrow, they told him the curability rate was high, upward of 90 percent. He leaned on humor throughout, joking about looking like "a little baby bird" as his hair thinned, while being honest that the experience was, as he put it, a roller coaster ride.
His treatment worked. Coulier announced that his lymphoma reached remission within a few months. His story did not end there: during follow-up, doctors found a separate, unrelated cancer, which he was also treated for. As of early 2026, he shared that he was in remission from both. He has been open about the lasting toll of that second round of treatment, including significant weight loss and changes to his voice — a candid look at what recovery can involve.
What his story teaches
Coulier's experience is a clear window into lymphoma. Lymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphatic system — the vessels, nodes, and organs that help the body fight infection. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the kind he had, is really a large family of related cancers, and B-cell types like his are among the most common. Some non-Hodgkin lymphomas are slow-growing while others are aggressive; his was the fast-moving kind, which is one reason treatment began so quickly.
His diagnosis also highlights how lymphoma often first shows up: as a swollen lymph node or a lump, sometimes in the neck, armpit, or groin. Many things besides cancer cause swollen nodes — infections most of all — but a lump that is new, persistent, or growing is worth having a doctor check. Staging matters too. Whether the cancer has reached the bone marrow, as Coulier learned, helps his team judge how treatable it is.
Finally, his case is a reminder that recovery is rarely a straight line, and that follow-up scans and check-ups after treatment do real work — in his case, catching a second, unrelated cancer. If you want to understand what can raise a person's chances of developing cancer, our overview of cancer risk factors is a helpful next read.
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The bottom line
Dave Coulier was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2024 after finding a lump in his groin, was treated with chemotherapy, and reached remission within months. He later faced and was treated for an unrelated cancer, and as of early 2026 said he was in remission from both — a reminder that catching lymphoma and acting quickly can make a real difference.
Words to know
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Common questions
▸What kind of cancer did Dave Coulier have?
He was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, specifically an aggressive B-cell type. It is a cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, part of the body's immune network. He announced it on the TODAY show in November 2024.
▸How did he find out he had lymphoma?
He came down with what felt like a cold and, within about a week, discovered a golf-ball-sized lump in his groin. He had a history of swollen lymph nodes when getting sick, but this was different. Testing led to the lymphoma diagnosis.
▸What treatment did he have?
By the time he went public, he had already had several surgeries and started chemotherapy. He has said his doctors told him the curability rate was high — upward of 90 percent — because the cancer had not spread to his bone marrow.
▸Is Dave Coulier in remission now?
Yes. He announced that his lymphoma reached remission within months. He was later diagnosed with a separate, unrelated cancer and treated for that as well, and as of early 2026 said he was in remission from both.
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