Jeff Bridges says he has lymphoma, but adds: “The prognosis is good”

Jeff Bridges, the Oscar award-winning actor beloved his iconic role as the weed-loving bowler The Dude in “The Big Lebowski,” announced on Monday that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma.

“As the Dude would say,” Bridges tweeted, “New S**T has come to light.”

“Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good,” he added.

The 70-year-old thespian was scarce on the details of the diagnosis, but he said that his treatment had started and he would keep fans updated on his status.

Bridges said that he was grateful for the love and support of his family and friends during the ordeal.

“Thank you for your prayers and well wishes,” he added while urging people to vote, noting “we are all in this together.”

The tweet, which has been “liked” nearly half a million times, quickly led to an outpouring of fan support.

“My dad had large cell lymphoma and beat it dude,” one fan wrote. “You can too.”

Another user wrote, “If anyone can abide this with grace, we know it’s you dude.”

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which helps the body fight germs, according to the Mayo Clinic. While many types of lymphoma exist, treatment can include chemotherapy, immunotherapy medications, radiation therapy, bone marrow transplants, or a combination of these treatments.

The disease begins when disease-fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes develop genetic mutations, causing the cell to rapidly multiply and spreading diseased lymphocytes through the body when other normal cells would die. This results in a swelling of lymph nodes, the spleen, and the liver.

Men over the age of 55 are more prone to developing lymphoma than females are, the clinic said.

Bridges is a veteran of the silver screen who comes from a family of actors, including his father Lloyd Bridges, who died in 1998, and his brother, Beau.

Bridges began his acting career in the late 1950s and has since appeared in over 90 projects. Throughout his career, Bridges has garnered seven Academy Award nominations. In 2010, he finally won the Oscar for best performance by an actor in the leading role of “Crazy Heart,” where he was hailed for his captivating performance as an embittered country music singer battling alcohol addiction.

However, Bridges is most famous for his role as The Dude – a burned-out aging hipster and lover of bowling who drinks White Russians while on an adventure across Los Angeles – in the Coen brothers film, “The Big Lebowski.”

The 1998 film, which also stars John Goodman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, and John Goodman, has since become a major cult classic alongside “Animal House,” “Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke.” The stoner comedy has even spawned its own religion known as Dudeism, which claims to be “An ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh…lost my train of thought there.”

Bridges’ other celebrated films include “Starman,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Fisher King,” and the first “Iron Man” film.