Stephen Garcia says he is cancer-free after Stage 4 fight

Gamecocks fans have been waiting for this one since May, and the South Carolina beat got it out fast on Tuesday.

David Cloninger

@DCPandC

Stephen Garcia is cancer-free: t.co/lqiTR3BFSn

Here's what Garcia says the doctors found. The tumors in his liver and colon shrank enough under chemo and radiation to make him eligible for surgery. The surgeons then removed the cancer with negative margins, his lymph nodes came back clear, and a Signatera blood test, which looks for traces of tumor DNA, came back negative. "We are completely cancer free. Everything has been taken out with negative margins," Garcia said. "It's been a hell of a journey."

It wasn't the first good news, but it's the first time anyone has said the words. After his surgery earlier this fall, his surgeon reported that "the cancer is out," but his wife was careful to point out that he was not officially cancer-free yet, and that Stage 4 means a long road of surveillance. That second step has now come through, and Gamecock country took notice.

GoGamecocks

@gogamecocks

Former Gamecock QB Garcia says he’s now ‘cancer-free’ after Stage 4 diagnosis t.co/dma8LOuTse

For anyone under 30, it's hard to explain how big Stephen Garcia was in Columbia. He was the gunslinger of the Steve Spurrier years, starting from 2007 to 2011 and going 20-14 as a starter. He threw for 7,507 yards and 41 touchdowns and ran for 15 more. His best year was 2010, when he threw for 3,059 yards and 20 scores and led South Carolina to a 9-5 season and the program's first SEC East title. He also had a long run of suspensions, and he was dismissed from the team during the 2011 season. Loved, maddening, never boring. Peak Gamecocks.

He's not done with treatment. Garcia has a bag reversal procedure scheduled for December 8 and could still face more rounds of chemo. Like any Stage 4 patient, he'll be watched closely from here. But going from that diagnosis in May to "cancer-free" in November is about as good an outcome as anyone could have asked for.

He has also used his diagnosis to push other people to get checked. Garcia started a nonprofit, Quarterback Your Health, to encourage early cancer screenings, and colorectal cancer keeps showing up in younger adults. If one guy's scare gets a few thousand people to book a colonoscopy, that's the best thing he'll ever have done in Columbia, and that includes beating Bama in 2010.