Lyle Alzado Said Steroids Caused His Cancer. His Doctors Disagreed.

Lyle Alzado told NBC's "First Person with Maria Shriver" that steroids had caused his inoperable brain cancer. The statement was Alzado's account of his illness, not a medical determination. He spoke publicly about the disease while placing its cause in the history of drugs he said he had used.

In a 1991 interview, Alzado said he had taken steroids during almost all of his 14 years in the NFL. He said he had used "a certain steroid" while trying to make a comeback with the Raiders. According to his account, that steroid ruined his immune system. The interview tied the specific use to the broader history he had described.

Alzado said his treatment included radiation, oral cortisone and chemotherapy. The Deseret News quoted Dr. Thomas DeLoughery as saying, "one cannot really say it is clear the anabolic steroids led to the lymphoma." DeLoughery's statement addressed the connection Alzado had made between steroid use and cancer; it did not identify steroids as unrelated to the disease.

After Alzado's illness and death, the Los Angeles Times reported that rumors circulated that he really had AIDS. DeLoughery said he and other doctors went "overboard in AIDS testing" because they expected questions after Alzado's death. The doctors' response included testing prompted by the questions surrounding the illness.

The Los Angeles Times reported that doctors who treated Alzado said he died from primary brain lymphoma, not AIDS. That reported diagnosis identified the disease attached to his death, while his claim that steroids had caused the lymphoma remained his own account rather than an established medical conclusion.