NEW YORK — Michael Douglas dropped by Tuesday's Late Show with David Letterman, where he opened up about his stage 4 throat cancer prognosis.
"You've never looked better to me, and this proves that you're a tough guy for God's sakes," Letterman told the 65-year-old actor, drawing cheers from the studio audience.
"Let's just say ... I'm pretty lit up right now," replied Douglas.
The Oscar winner said his health ordeal began early in the summer when he first had a sore throat. He initially went through a battery of tests and doctors gave him a clean bill of health, but about three weeks ago a biopsy revealed the cancer.
Douglas told Letterman that he just finished his first week of radiation and chemotherapy treatment, which is expected to last for eight weeks.
"It knocks you out really hard," he said.
When Letterman asked about the cancer being diagnosed as stage 4, Douglas said the good news is the disease hasn't spread.
"I am head and neck," explained Douglas, who said he has about an 80 percent chance for a full recovery. "I am above the neck, so nothing's gone down, and the expectations are good..."
Letterman said he was appreciative that Douglas would still come on the show despite the medical scare.
"I'm doing everything I can," Douglas said of his cancer fight, before receiving a hug from the host.
Douglas also discusses his cancer battle in the latest issue of People. His wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, tells the mag that it's been difficult watching the normally tireless star slowed down by his treatment.
"The hardest part is seeing his fatigue, because Michael is never tired," she said.
The actress also said it was Douglas who delivered the cancer diagnosis to the couple's two young children, Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7. "Daddy sat them down and told them he has cancer now," she recalled.
Watch Michael Douglas discuss his throat cancer on the Late Show with David Letterman:
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