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Greg Papa appears poised to take the next step in his remarkable medical journey. The San Francisco 49ers radio play-by-play announcer said Tuesday that he hopes to return to the booth early this season, and he expects to have a major role on 49ers’ “Pregame Live” and “Postgame Live” shows on NBC Sports Bay Area if he’s not calling 49ers games. Papa will also make weekly appearances on the “49ers Talk” podcast. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Papa said he still has medical hurdles to clear before he can resume his play-by-play duties, and he hasn’t been cleared to travel. If he’s not in the booth, he could be part of NBC Sports Bay Area’s gameday shows. The news comes about 13 months after Papa, 63, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, nearly six months after he had a successful bone marrow transplant and six weeks after he returned to his North Bay home after spending 78 days at UCSF Medical Center, most of them in intensive care. After suffering from pneumonia and the collapse of both lungs, Papa was discharged needing supplemental oxygen and facing an uncertain future. Doctors feared his lungs were permanently scarred and he might require oxygen to be delivered through a nasal cannula for the rest of his life. Papa, a 42-year broadcasting veteran who has spent 53 seasons as the voice for Bay Area teams, wasn’t certain last month that he’d call another game. “No one knows what my future is,” Papa said to the Chronicle in mid-July. Advertisement Article continues below this ad By early August, however, Papa’s oxygen needs had significantly lessened. He began using a cannula only when he slept, not long after he needed a liter of oxygen when sitting and five liters when standing or walking. Papa no longer uses supplemental oxygen when sleeping. On Aug. 5, Papa was laid off by KNBR, which also parted with Greg Silver, his co-host on their midday show. Papa hadn’t been on KNBR since shortly before his bone-marrow transplant on March 4, but he was optimistic he could soon return to his talk-show duties when the station let him go. Papa returned to his midday show in mid-September last year, two months after receiving his cancer diagnosis, and stayed on the air for most of the next five months while undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy. Papa briefly returned to the radio booth last season, but it was a struggle. He planned to call the 49ers’ win against the Bears on Dec. 28, but he was forced to cancel the morning of the game due to health issues. On Jan. 3, he called his only game, the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks in their regular-season finale. However, he was exhausted after he returned to the job with a catheter in his arm that provided a stream of immunotherapy drugs. Advertisement Article continues below this ad “That took a lot out of me,” Papa said. “Afterward, I thought: ‘Why did you do that?’”