How Michael Douglas Really Got Cancer
Michael Douglas Image by Getty Images
By Anne Cohen June 3, 2013
Michael Douglas has revealed that it wasn’t smoking or drinking that caused his stage four throat cancer — it was oral sex.
In a straightforward interview with the UK’s The Guardian, Douglas, 68, said that his cancer was related to the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Asked whether or not he regretted his years of boozing and smoking, thought to be at the root of his illness, the actor replied: “No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus.”
The “Behind the Candelabra” star, married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, added: “I did worry if the stress caused by my son’s incarceration didn’t help trigger it. But yeah, it’s a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it.”
The actor was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer in August 2010, after seeing a specialist in Montreal.
“I will always remember the look on his face,” Douglas said. “He said: ‘We need a biopsy.’ There was a walnut-size tumour at the base of my tongue that no other doctor had seen.”
Despite his slim chances, Douglas has been cancer-free for two years. He undergoes check-ups regularly, he said, “and with this kind of cancer, 95% of the time it doesn’t come back”.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
