Joe Amabile, a figure known from ABC's "The Bachelor" franchise, has shared that he was diagnosed with an early-stage brain tumor. The discovery was made following a full-body scan that revealed a lesion in his brain.
Amabile, 40, described the growth as a "blueberry-sized lesion" that appears to be a glioma. He is scheduled to undergo brain surgery in two weeks to have it removed at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Following the surgery, the removed mass will undergo further testing to determine its exact nature.
"So a little medical update. I didn’t share my Prenuvo results because they ended up finding a lesion in my brain," Amabile said in an Instagram post. "So then I had to go get a brain MRI, and there was a blueberry-sized lesion in my brain that looks to be a glioma, which is a tumor."
He expressed surprise at the diagnosis, noting, "I think it’s one of those things where you’re like, 'Oh, something like this never happened to me,' and here I am. They say it’s really early stages."
Amabile first gained public recognition on Season 14 of "The Bachelorette" in 2018. He later appeared on "Bachelor in Paradise" in 2018 and 2021, where he met his wife, Serena Pitt. The couple married in 2022. Pitt commented on his announcement, stating, "You’re so strong and we’re going to get through this together. I love you."
Gliomas are tumors that originate in glial cells, which support and protect nerve cells in the brain. According to Cancer Research UK, approximately 2,200 cases of glioma are diagnosed annually in the UK, and the tumors affect two to three in every 100,000 adults each year in the U.S. Treatment approaches for gliomas, which can range from low-grade to high-grade, often involve surgery, and may also include radiotherapy and chemotherapy, depending on the tumor's characteristics and grade.