Michael Douglas, optimistic as he undergoes chemotherapy for throat cancer

“It’s a stage four, which is intense, and they gotta go at it,” Michael Douglas told talk show host David Letterman Tuesday night. The Hollywood star has recently admitted that he has serious throat cancer but says he remains optimistic as he undergoes treatment.

He told Letterman, “I am head and neck, I am above the neck, so nothing’s gone down and the expectations are good. You like to be down at stage one but the big thing you worry about is it spreading.”

65-year-old Douglas, who is married to British actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, disclosed that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer when he returned to the United States from a family holiday three weeks ago. He had not mentioned the seriousness of the disease in his earlier interview with People magazine.

Douglas said he had been suffering from throat problems for several months. “I went through a litany of doctors and tests and they didn’t find anything and then I had a great summer after some other personal adversities,” he told Letterman. “I came back and a guy said ‘Let me have a look’. All happened within three weeks. They got a biopsy and analyzed it.” He’s now undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

“The percentages are very good. I would hate to say, but right now, it looks like it should be 80 percent, and with certain hospitals and everything, it does improve.”

Douglas, son of screen legend Kirk Douglas, has two young children with Zeta-Jones.