Marco Mancosu, the captain of promotion-chasing Italian Serie B side Lecce, said he is determined to finish the season before finding out whether he requires chemotherapy after undergoing surgery for a tumour.
Mancosu, 32, kept his condition secret until posting on Instagram on Wednesday.
"I had an operation on March 26. For a tumour. I saw a world that I never thought I would know, I saw terror in the eyes of the people I love," he wrote.
Mancosu has been a key player for the Puglia side this season, scoring eight goals in 28 league games to fire them to third place, two points off the second automatic promotion spot with two games remaining.
"The doctors told me my season was finished and that I should think about next year, but after two weeks I was back running on the pitch," he said.
"After one month I should have returned to Milan to find out if I needed chemotherapy, but I have not gone yet because I want to do the thing I love the most in the world, playing football, and then we will see at the end of the season. I have already won."