Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton admits the after effects of cancer treatment came back to ''bite'' him.

The bass player, who was told his throat and tongue cancer had returned in 2011, had a difficult year last year after he pulled out of the band's tour of Australia and was replaced by David Hull due to health issues.

He told digitaljournal.com: ''I had a couple of situations last year that I'm past. Sometimes the after effects of cancer treatment sort of come back to bite you later on down the road. That happened last year, but I'm feeling great now ... having an awesome time out here.''

The 62-year-old musician is now looking forward to touring the US with his Aerosmith band mates - Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer - and he realises there might not be many more opportunities to play live which is why the band put their differences aside.

He said: ''I think we all know that we're nearer the end than the beginning of this whole thing and nobody wants to miss anything - I certainly don't.

''I don't want to miss all the amazing stuff there is out in the world for us right now just because of an argument or because somebody is too burned out and they lash out or something. Everything is forgivable when you consider what's out there for us if we can keep it together...''

Asked if he had considered retiring from the group, he replied: ''Yeah, we have periods when we're off the road for a few months at a time. But I start to realise that I'm so used to being out on the road that sometimes being at home I feel like I don't do it right!

''I like having nice long breaks in between tours, but I do get itchy to get back out here, especially knowing that there's a lot of people that want us. They're waiting for us to come back. That's something that's a joy for us.''