Larry King Diagnosed With Lung Cancer

Larry King has revealed that he was secretly diagnosed with lung cancer, sharing the news with Us Weekly in a new interview.

King shared that he received the news during what he thought would be a routine visit to the doctor.

“I go for my checkup and they say, ‘Let’s do a chest X-ray, and the doctor said to me, ‘Something looks funny,’ ” he recalled. “They said the spot looked pretty small. … I then did a CAT scan then a PET scan and then he said to me, ‘You have lung cancer, but it looks very small, in the beginning stages.’ “

The 83-year-old’s doctors were able to catch the cancer early, and King underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on July 17. Two weeks later, he returned to work.

“They showed me my latest chest X-ray, which is all clear,” he said. “It was fun to see where that spot was and there is no spot now. They took off 20 percent of the lung.”

King has battled multiple health issues over the years, including a heart attack in the ’80s, prostate cancer and a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. He noted that while he hasn’t smoked a cigarette since his heart attack, his doctor said tobacco from his old habit was related to his lung cancer. The journalist added that he hopes his story will encourage others to get checked.

“When you are [getting] a checkup, get a chest X-ray because lung cancer ain’t going to tell you it’s there, but a simple chest X-ray will,” he shared. “If it shows you one little spot, you will do a CAT scan. They are all painless.”

Photo Credit: Twitter / @kingsthings