Jarryd Roughead gets positive cancer news

Hawthorn veteran Jarryd Roughead has been given the all clear by doctors after a "complete response" to his latest round of cancer treatment.

"We had another PET scan two weeks ago and they're going to have to be every three months," he told the Hawthorn website.

"I was lucky enough to get the results yesterday. Trained in the morning ... and had the doctor's appointment late afternoon yesterday.

"Grant and the team at Peter Mac (cancer centre) gave me the news that I've had a complete response from the treatment so far and he's given me the all clear to get back into living normal life and getting back to doing things I want, which is playing footy and living my life."

Roughead has not gone as far as saying he will play in round one, instead focusing on "potentially playing footy" once he ramps up his pre-season training program.

The four-time premiership player has not played since the 2015 AFL grand final.

Roughead explained that all traces of the cancer were now gone from his body.

"A complete response means that the lumps are gone and the tumours have gone," he said.

"So what we're saying is that the drugs that I had have worked and killed off everything."

But he remains cautious, saying he must look after his immune system.

The ruck-forward had a melanoma cut from his lip last year and in May tests showed the cancer had spread to his lungs.

Roughead was already out of action for the first half of the 2016 season because of a knee injury.

He had to undergo debilitating immunotherapy treatment.

Roughead will continue to have checks every three months, but said that was only as a precaution.

"After the last one with my lip, we knew we had surveillance and checkups and that's what got this one in the first place," he said.

"So it's not as if I'm going back to see if I've still got it, it's what is part of the deal now. That will go on for a couple of years and then obviously extend the longer we go."

He said he had no idea how long it would take to be ready for an AFL return.

"I don't think you can put a timeline on it straight away. We're on the right road and right path to hopefully playing footy again," he said.

Roughead noted he had not been able to train for six or seven months.

"I haven't been able to hit some bodies and have a muck around on the field - that's as much a release as it is a job," he said.

"I'm pretty much starting from scratch."

- with AAP