Bruce Dickinson Looks Back on Cancer Scare: ‘I Am My Own Science Project’

Bruce Dickinson has emerged from his recent cancer scare with a deeper understanding of how his body works.

The Iron Maiden vocalist, who was given a clean bill of health in May after undergoing treatment for a tumor on the back of his tongue, offered an inside perspective on his treatment during a recent interview with Metal Hammer. He sounded a rather bemused note about the changes he went through while undergoing chemotherapy.

"You end up with the metabolism of a hummingbird during this treatment because you’re being cooked from the inside out. But your body’s also trying to heal itself rapidly, and it goes into overdrive," he explained. "I think that’s one reason why you lose weight. It’s simply because your system is banging away and then eventually it all dropped back down to normal."

It's a grueling ordeal for many cancer patients, but now that Dickinson's on the other side, he's clearly able to have a good sense of humor about it. "It’s fascinating," he added. "Basically, I am my own science project."

Dickinson will presumably be taking his science project on the road next year, when Iron Maiden begin what's rumored to be a lengthy tour in support of their latest record, The Book of Souls, which comes out on Sept. 4. The LP, which marks the group's first double-album set of new material, concludes with an 18-minute, Dickinson-penned track titled "Empire of the Clouds" that bassist Steve Harris has already hailed as a "masterpiece."

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