Monsanto says Roundup is safe and can't be linked to individual cancer cases. (CNN) — On bad days, Dewayne Johnson is too crippled to speak. Lesions often cover as much as 80% of his body. Doctors have said they didn’t expect him to live to see this day. But Monday marks a milestone: Johnson, 46, is the first of hundreds of cancer patients to see his case against agrochemical giant Monsanto go to trial. Courtesy Dewayne Johnson Johnson, a former school groundskeeper, regularly used Roundup and claims it gave him cancer. CNN reported last year that more than 800 patients were suing Monsanto, claiming its popular weed killer, Roundup, gave them cancer. Since then, hundreds more non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients have made similar claims, Johnson’s attorney, Timothy Litzenburg, said. He now represents “more than 2,000 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma sufferers who used Roundup extensively,” he said. Johnson, a father of two in California’s Bay Area, applied Roundup weed killer 20 to 30 times per year while working as a pest manager for a county school system, his attorney said. Johnson’s case is the first to go to trial because, his doctors claim in court filings, he is nearing death. And in California, dying plaintiffs can be granted expedited trials. And there’s a lot riding on this case, which could set a legal precedent for thousands of cases to follow. Report on Roundup ingredient in dispute The big questions at stake are whether Roundup can cause cancer and, if so, whether Monsanto failed to warn consumers about the product’s cancer risk. In March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said the key ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” “For the herbicide glyphosate, there was limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” the report states. “The evidence in humans is from studies of exposures, mostly agricultural, in the USA, Canada, and Sweden published since 2001. In addition, there is convincing evidence that glyphosate also can cause cancer in laboratory animals.” But Monsanto long has maintained that Roundup does not cause cancer, and that the IARC report is greatly outnumbered by studies saying glyphosate is safe. “More than 800 scientific studies, the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the National Institutes of Health and regulators around the world have concluded that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer,” Scott Partridge, Monsanto’s vice president of strategy, said in a statement. We have empathy for anyone suffering from cancer, but the scientific evidence clearly shows that glyphosate was not the cause.” Monsanto Vice President Scott Partridge “We have empathy for anyone suffering from cancer, but the scientific evidence clearly shows that glyphosate was not the cause. We look forward to presenting this evidence to the court.” Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said regulatory authorities help ensure Roundup is safe. “The safety of each labeled use of a pesticide formulation must be evaluated and approved by regulatory authorities before it is authorized for sale,” she has said. The National Pesticide Information Center – a cooperative between Oregon State University and the EPA – said studies on cancer rates in humans “have provided conflicting results on whether the use of glyphosate containing products is associated with cancer.” Many more cases to follow Johnson’s case – and hundreds of similar cases against Monsanto – have been filed in various state courts, Litzenburg said. Many other cases have been filed in federal multidistrict litigation, or MDL. Courtesy Dewayne Johnson Johnson had lesions on most of his body, a doctor said. MDL is a procedure similar to class-action, in that it consolidates pre-trial proceedings for the sake of efficiency. But unlike a class-action lawsuit, each case within an MDL gets its own trial – with its own outcome. In other words, one MDL plaintiff might get a large settlement, while another plaintiff might get nothing. It’s not clear when future state or MDL trials will begin. One advantage of filing in state court – as Johnson did – instead of through MDL is that state courts might produce an outcome faster. And in Johnson’s case, time is critical. “Mr. Johnson is angry and is the most safety-oriented person I know,” his attorney said. “Right now, he is the bravest dude in America. Whatever happens with the trial and his health, his sons get to know that.” CNN’s Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A Californian groundskeeper with terminal cancer is set to become the first person to take agrobiotechnology giant Monsanto to trial, claiming that the company has suppressed the cancer risk of its product for decades. DeWayne Johnson, 46, who has just a few months left to live, will take the stand against Monsanto in San Francisco County Superior Court. The landmark trial is scheduled to begin June 18. Read more Johnson, a father of three, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 42. He had earlier worked for a school district, “where his responsibilities included direct application of Roundup and RangerPro, another Monsanto glyphosate product, to school properties,” the lawsuit claims. “Monsanto does not want the truth about Roundup and cancer to become public,” Johnson's attorney, Michael Miller, said in an interview with the Guardian. “We look forward to exposing how Monsanto hid the risk of cancer and polluted the science.” The corporation attempted to bar experts, hired by Johnson, from testifying and his legal team from using certain research. Monsanto insists that the cancer the man suffers from hasn’t been caused by exposure to its products. According to the order signed by San Francisco Superior Court judge Curtin Karnow last week, some of Monsanto's requests were granted. However, the judge allowed Johnson's lawyers to deploy various peer-reviewed studies and expert evidence during the trial. #Monsanto sues California over weed killer cancer warnings as it 'violate the First Amendment' https://t.co/Ip0J9s9NPA — RT (@RT_com) November 15, 2017 The state of California and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), have previously labelled glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. However, US and EU watchdogs haven’t banned the chemical from widespread agriculture use. Monsanto has rejected all allegations and scientific findings of carcinogenicity of the chemical. In the meantime, around 4,000 plaintiffs have filed similar lawsuits, claiming that they or their relatives were sick from the exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup. 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California man is the first of hundreds of plaintiffs to see Monsanto in court. A California man is the first of hundreds of plaintiffs to see his day in court with Monsanto in a lawsuit alleging that its weed killing product Roundup gave him cancer. Jury selection began Monday in California Superior Court in DeWayne Johnson’s suit against the agrochemical giant. Johnson worked for a school district and regularly applied Roundup on campuses dozens of times a year. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in August 2014 at the age of 42. His case has been fast-tracked through the court system because of his failing health. Johnson has suspended his chemotherapy treatment because the side effects were so severe, according to court documents. His doctors have told the court they don’t expect him to live through 2019. Johnson’s lawyers did not return ABC News requests for comment. Lawyers for Johnson say in court documents that Monsanto championed false data and attacked legitimate studies that revealed possible dangers of using its Roundup weed killer. The case could set a precedent for hundreds of other cases against the maker of the weed killer. There are more than 400 cases against Monsanto in San Francisco courts alone. At issue is the chemical Glyphosate, a widely used herbicide that is used in more than 750 products sold in the United States. The National Pesticide Information Center says that Glyphosate has carcinogenic potential when administered in high doses to laboratory animals. Studies on cancer rates in humans have had conflicting results. A Monsanto representative tells ABC News that more than 600 published medical peer-reviewed studies have found no link between Roundup and cancer. “It has been studied extensively throughout the world over and over again, the conclusions are unequivocal," Scott Partridge, vice president of Global Strategy at Monsanto, told ABC News. “In a real-world environment, there is no association between the use of Glyphosate and cancer.” Once a jury is seated, the trial is expected to last four weeks.