Professor Green has revealed he has four tumours, including one behind his eye and three on his spine, in a concerning health update shared with fans. The rapper, whose real name is Stephen Manderson, disclosed his diagnosis of Schwannomatosis, a rare disorder characterised by benign nerve sheath tumours that can cause chronic pain.
In an Instagram post, the 40-year-old said he had previously had 'superficial but painful' growths removed from his head and neck, but doctors later discovered more tumours elsewhere. He wrote: 'After four relatively superficial but painful growths were removed from my head and neck, I’ve now found out I have one behind my left eye and three along my spine: two smaller lesions at t5 and t6, and one the size of a blemmin’ lime around my s2 nerve.'
Manderson, who also has ADHD, autism, pyloric stenosis and factor VII deficiency, described the mental toll of waiting to learn whether the tumours were benign or malignant. He said: 'After a good few weeks of worrying about whether or not they were benign or malignant, I feel as though, as painful as this is, the trauma I went through in my head living out worst-case scenarios was worse.'
The star, a prominent campaigner for men's mental health, reflected on his journey to acceptance, adding: 'I’ve come to a place of acceptance - this is how I’ll experience life, there’s no way around it, and that’s okay.' He also noted that he likely suffers from hyper-interoception, an overactive ability to feel internal sensations, which he discovered after his autism diagnosis.
Manderson previously told the Mirror that being diagnosed with ADHD and autism at 40 was life-changing, saying: 'Forty years of being me nearly killed me.' He spearheaded a study showing 65% of men have faced mental health issues in the past three years, with 70% only seeking therapy at breaking point. His father died by suicide when Manderson was 24, but the rapper said he has never attempted suicide, though substance misuse led to 'every chance of death by misadventure'.
