Megadeth Optimistic About Dave Mustaine's Cancer Treatment

Megadeth's David Ellefson says that the band is optimistic about the frontman Dave Mustaine's treatments for throat cancer and discussed the group's decision to shut things down for a bit for Dave benefit.

Ellefson made the comments during an interview on The Classic Metal Show last week, following Mustaine sharing the news with fans that he is battling cancer and the group had decided to cancel most of the shows for the remainder of the year.

During the interview, Ellefson was asked is he believes that Mustaine having throat cancer may mean that there may never be another Megadeth album.

He responded, "Well, I think, at this point, we're optimistic about the treatments. Other cases have shown that it's... throat cancer is treatable. It's at a place where it's certainly, I don't think, beyond a point of repair. So I think it's good, and that's why I think shutting down right now, at least the touring side of it, is good, because I think if we tried to continue to go out and force Dave to sing and perform, yeah, that may not have such a good outcome.

"And it's funny, I think about it when I broke my foot a couple of years ago - this was three years ago now. The 'Dystopia' tour was just rolling, man, and we were just right in the middle of it, and I freaking break my foot backstage. And I was going, 'Dave, I'll play the next three shows.' And he was, 'No. You're going home. We're going home right now.' He goes, 'If that doesn't heal right right now, you can have lifelong problems. So we've gotta shut down and you've gotta go home.'

"And we did. And I know some fans, obviously, were upset and disappointed, as you would expect. I would be too, if I was a fan in the audience. But it was real, and we had to do it. So I was thinking about that same thing today with Dave, that the best thing we can do for him, certainly as a singer and as a member of our group, but also as a human, let him... Let's just shut down. Let's take the pressure off of him. And fortunately, the studio, the house that we have is right next door to Dave's property in Franklin - literally, he can drive his little ATV over there; it's that close.

"So it's easy enough to be able to check in on stuff. And the days when Dave's feeling good, great. If there's days he's not, hey, no worries. The good Lord has set up a pretty workable scenario that it's not like we're in some situation where we're way behind the eightball on an album or way in debt. Believe me, we've been in those situations before years ago, where it's, like, 'Oh my God.' It's, like, 'We couldn't break up now if we wanted to. We couldn't stop if we wanted to. There's no way out except forward.'

"And I think we're in a good position now to be able to have this break. And you never know when creativity hits. Sometimes creativity hits in some of your darkest moments. The darkest moments where there's struggle can often bring about some of the greatest music. 'Dystopia' was an album like that. I mean, we'd been through a management change, a lineup change... I mean, we were down to just me and Dave. Everything was completely just in shambles, and out of that, we made a Grammy Award-winning album.

"Dave's a warrior, he's a fighter, and he's got pretty good sensibilities about when to hit the gas and when to hit the brake. So it's what it needs to be right at this exact time." Check out the full interviewhere

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