Douglas, 65, disclosed that his cancer is late stage four, which means it has spread beyond the original tumour, but said it had remained above the neck and he has an 80 per cent chance of recovery. 
 
 He has already undergone a week of radiation and chemotherapy for a walnut-sized tumour at the base of his tongue, and faces another seven weeks of treatment. 
 
 The Oscar-winning star said his throat had been bothering him for some time and doctors put him through a battery of tests in the early summer, but found nothing. 
 
 In early August he underwent a biopsy, which revealed his advanced cancer. Douglas said it was "intense, and so they've got to go at it." He told People magazine: "Without having to blame anybody, these things sometimes just don't show up I'm treating this as a curable disease. It's a fight. I'll beat this." 
 
 However, Zeta-Jones, 40, said in the same interview: "It makes me furious they didn't detect it earlier. He sought every option and nothing was found. I knew something was up. He knew something was up." 
 
 In a television interview with David Letterman, Douglas, who appeared visibly thinner than usual, said his cancer was caused by his drinking and smoking. 
 
 Douglas and Zeta-Jones have two children Dylan, 10, and Carys, seven. Zeta-Jones said: "Daddy sat them down and told them he has cancer now." 

 Michael Douglas: Radiation, Chemo 'Really Knocks You Out' 
 
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 Michael Douglas knows he has a tough road ahead – but he's ready to face it."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 reveals in this week's PEOPLE cover story that he received the diagnosis of throat cancer in early August after suffering persistent throat and ear pain.Douglas's wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones , 40, says she has struggled with seeing her normally tireless husband slowed by the effects of his treatment."The hardest part is seeing his fatigue, because Michael is never tired," Zeta-Jones tells PEOPLE. She says Douglas told their children Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7, the difficult news himself: "Daddy sat them down and told them he has cancer now."The diagnosis capped what Douglas, who is next starring in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, calls "a pretty intense year" that also saw his oldest son Cameron, 31, sentenced to five years in prison on drug charges.But, says Zeta-Jones, "if there's anything Michael has, it's strength."For more of Douglas and Zeta-Jones's interview, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday
– As her husband embarks on the fight of his life against Stage 4 throat cancer, Catherine Zeta-Jones is still livid doctors didn't discover the illness earlier. Michael Douglas went to doctors early in the summer complaining of a persistent sore throat. They put him through a battery of tests, but found nothing until rechecking last month, reports People. "It makes me furious they didn't detect it earlier," Zeta-Jones said. " He sought every option and nothing was found. I knew something was up. He knew something was up." Douglas has vowed to beat the disease, and has begun 8 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. "Without having to blame anybody, these things sometimes just don't show up. I'm treating this as a curable disease. It's a fight. I'll beat this," he said.