Despite being diagnosed with cancer for the fourth time in the last four years, Christian social media influencer Dylan Mandell says he's holding on to God’s promise of long life. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue. What you say matters. I want the only thing coming out of your mouth [to be] the promises and life of Jesus. That is how you win in spiritual warfare.
That is how you overcome the attacks on your life,” Mandell, 23, declared in a message shared on YouTube earlier this month.
“When the attacks of Satan come against you, recite Scripture just as Jesus did when He said, ‘It is written.’ Say it to Satan: ‘It is written.’ Cancer wants to come against my body and threaten my existence and this promise of long life.” Mandell, who is a California-based athlete and speaker, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma when he was 18, according to a GoFundMe campaign.
The cancer, which was first discovered in his jaw, required him to undergo facial reconstruction surgery along with intense chemotherapy and radiation. Despite invoking his faith and undergoing a raft of medical interventions to stave off the cancer, Mandell said it came back for the fourth time in August 2025, but he is refusing to give up.
“And to be honest, that's one of the most difficult assignments I could ever be given. … I was diagnosed last year on August 28th, and man, it's tough. It's tough and it's a fight, and It's been 12 months without breakthrough, and cancer is taking ground against me day in and day out, week in and week out,” he revealed.
Mandell says despite fighting one of the hardest battles he has ever fought in his young life, he is