Sebastien Haller never feared he would be forced to retire and wants to return to action "as quickly as possible".
The Ivory Coast striker joined Borussia Dortmund from Ajax ahead of this season but is yet to feature for the Bundesliga side after discovering a malignant tumour during pre-season testing in July.
Haller underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy, with Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke stating the striker could return after the mid-season break.
The 28-year-old was present as Dortmund returned to training for the first time after the World Cup last week, although he was being "carefully introduced".
In comments to the media on Monday, Haller said: "I want to play as quickly as possible. There are no limits and restrictions on my involvement unless the medical staff tell me otherwise.
"[Returning is the] best feeling I could have. I didn't know what the future will bring, but I focused every day on staying fit.
"I can do everything now that I used to do before; that gives me great confidence.
"I took only 19 days off in the six months. It was hard, but it's my job and I love it."
Haller – who scored 34 goals in 43 games for Ajax last season before joining Dortmund for a reported €34.5million fee – also said he had never had concerns about his career coming to a premature end.
"[Retiring] was never on my mind," he said. "I had the mindset of looking forward and taking every day at a time. It was harder for my family, they suffered a lot because they didn't feel in control. They helped me a lot."
Also speaking at a press conference, Haller's Dortmund team-mate Marco Reus was delighted they could welcome the striker back into the fold ahead of the resumption of the Bundesliga season later this month.
"You can probably tell by my laughter, but it gives me goosebumps that he's back on the field," Reus told reporters. "I don't think he needs to say much at all, we were just so happy to have him back.
"I think we all took our hats off to the fight he put up and, above all, that he came back with a strength, with a mental strength that's really strong, and you can see it every day.
"He trains with us all the way; of course, he has a bit of catching up to do, but he pulls it off completely, and it's just a lot of fun to be back on the pitch with him, because of course he gives us a new alternative in the long run, which we perhaps don't have in our game yet.
"And that's why we're all doing well to stay calm, of course, and just give him a little bit of time until he finds his rhythm. That's going to take a little bit of time, but first and foremost just being healthy and playing what he feels most like playing."
On his own future, Reus also addressed recent rumours he will link up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia at the end of the season when his contract at Dortmund expires.
"I have a consultant to sort these things out," he said. "For me, it's just important that I stay in good health, that I do the complete training camp, do the games, and the rest you'll just really see in the future. But as I said, I have my advisor for that.
"Of course, you look ahead. And of course, I still have half a year left on my contract, and if I didn't worry about that, then it would be wrong.
"But actually, right now, I'm just happy to be back on the pitch and to be with the team. I mean, we are in sixth place and we really have other things to do right now. And that's where the focus is right now.
"Everything else will simply be decided in the next few weeks and months, and then we'll see in which direction it goes."
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
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