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Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester has been cleared by doctors to end chemotherapy.
"He's going to have one more treatment and then he's done," Boston manager Terry Francona said at baseball's winter meetings. "So, from where I sit, the meetings are already a success."
Lester, a left-handed rookie, was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 81 1-3 innings before his season ended after he was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
While Francona declined to use the term "remission" to describe Lester's cancer, he called the development "great news."
"I said to him the other night, 'What are your folks doing?' He said, 'They haven't stopped grinning since they've heard the news,'" Francona said. "So they are obviously thrilled."
Francona would not say whether Lester would be ready to report to spring training. Lester's attitude never wavered during treatment, the manager said.
"It was one of those feelings you can't describe," Lester said in September. "You're 22 years old. You go in for back pain, and you find out you have cancer."
Anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a type of cancer that forms in the body's lymph system. Doctors discovered enlarged lymph nodes when Lester was tested to determine the cause of back pain that sent him to the disabled list on Aug. 28.
Lester has been one of Boston's top prospects since he was drafted in 2002. He reached the major leagues for the first time June 10 and won his first five decisions.