'General Hospital' star John J. York battling 2 forms of cancer, staying positive about prognosis

HOLLYWOOD -- Actor John J. York is opening up about his life changing diagnosis. The longtime "General Hospital" star revealed he is battling two forms of cancer.

York has played the character of Mac Scorpio for three decades. His character has found himself in dozens of dangerous situations over the years. But now, it's a real-life drama that York is having to face.

But his cancer battle isn't getting him down. He says he plans to stay strong and positive on his journey of recovery.

"Last December of '22, I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS and multiple smoldering myeloma," said York.

Fans of the long-running daytime drama "General Hospital" are familiar with now police chief Mac Scorpio. In real life, he's now bravely facing a cancer battle. One he says he didn't see coming, but he is doing all he can to fight the disease.

York has been working with Be the Match, which connects patients with matching donors for life-saving blood stem cell transplants.

"Over the past many months, I've had three bone marrow biopsies, many chemo treatments, so I have another one coming up in a couple of weeks, and I'm closing in on a blood stem cell transplant," said York. "I believe they found a match, perfect match, which will make me cry. So we're gonna start our testing and do all that kind of stuff coming up here in about a week. And then I believe the transplant will happen. Fingers crossed in November. The response has been overwhelming, overwhelming for me. If there's anybody out there that may want to be a donor, what a wonderful thing to be able to save someone's life."

York says he would love any of his "General Hospital" fans to look into registering on this life saving site. Go to bethematch.org for more information.