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Michael Douglas Has Stage 4 Throat Cancer: Letterman Video

by Amy Judd | September 1, 2010 at 08:24 am

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Michael Douglas Revealed on the Late Show with David Letterman That He Has Stage 4 Throat Cancer

Douglas joked around with Letterman when he appeared on his show Tuesday night, but the audience gasped when he revealed that he was battling stage 4 throat cancer, which is the most advanced stage of the disease.

Douglas, 65, said that his cancer came from years of smoking and drinking.

The A-list actor is also the cover story for People Magazine this week, talking about how he is ready to face the tough road ahead to beat cancer. He says the diagnosis came after he was continually suffering from throat and ear pain.

"It's a fight," says the 65-year-old Oscar winner, who is undergoing a grueling course of radiation and chemotherapy to treat a tumor at the base of his tongue, and adds of his treatment: "It really knocks you out."

Douglas is married to Catherine-Zeta-Jones and they have two children together, Dylan, 10 and Carys, 7. She tells People that the hardest part is seeing her usually strong husband so tired.

He told Letterman that he has an 80 percent chance of recovery so everyone is hoping he will pull through ok.

"You've never looked better to me, and this proves that you're a tough guy, for God's sakes," Letterman said. "Let's just say ... I'm pretty lit up right now," Douglas replied.

Wife Catherine has expressed anger in the past over her husband's doctors not finding the disease even though he visited them multiple times complaining of pain in his throat and ears.

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Barry ORegan

at 15:29 on September 1st, 2010

Friggin tragic

Karen Hatter

at 15:40 on September 1st, 2010

Hope he beats it. I am a huge fan. The older he gets, the more striking his resemblance to his father, Kirk Douglas, with a cleft instead of a dimpled chin..