Michael Douglas to undergo chemotherapy after doctors discover tumour in his throat

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By Mail Foreign Service

The fight of his life: Michael Douglas, pictured with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones in Stockholm on July 16, will undergo treatment for throat cancer
‘I am very optimistic,’ Douglas said last night.


Michael Douglas faces two months of chemotherapy after doctors discovered a tumour in his throat.

The Oscar-winning actor, 65, who is married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, will undergo eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.

His doctors expect the Wall Street star to make a full recovery, according to America’s People magazine.


Family man: The 65-year-old with daughter Carys and son Dylan last year


A spokesman for the actor would not confirm the type of cancer, when it was discovered, or when treatment would begin. He also declined to answer any questions on Douglas’s history of smoking.

Larynx cancers are usually related to smoking and heavy drinking.

Chemotherapy is often used in conjunction with radiation for more advanced throat cancers. If it is caught early, tumours can be cured in 90 per cent of cases.

However, the prognosis is less hopeful if the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or lymph nodes.

In 2006, the Mail reported that Douglas and his wife were both trying to stop smoking.

At the time they were said to be each smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.
Cancers around the tonsils, meanwhile, are usually caused by a virus known as HPV, which also causes cervical cancer.

It was not clear which type of cancer the actor is suffering from.

Cancers of the mouth and throat are more common in men and people over the age of 45.

Douglas, who won an Oscar for Best Picture with One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, and for Best Actor in Wall Street in 1988, has starred in hits such as Fatal Attraction, War of the Roses, Basic Instinct, Falling Down and Traffic.

He also stars in Money Never Sleeps – Oliver Stone’s sequel to Wall Street which will be released next month.


Difficult year: Douglas' son Cameron was jailed for drug possession in June


source: dailymail

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