Michael Douglas had tongue cancer, not throat cancer

HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Michael Douglas said he actually had tongue cancer, not throat cancer, and lied about it upon advice from his doctor.

In an interview with Samuel L. Jackson on ITV's "This Morning," as part of Male Cancer Awareness Week, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor said he was diagnosed with stage-four tongue cancer in August 2010.

"This was right before I had to go on a big tour for ["Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"], so we kind of said there's no way we can cancel the tour and say we don't feel well. ... You've got to tell them," the 69-year-old said.

"But the surgeon said, 'Let's just say it's throat cancer.' I said 'OK, you don't want to say it's tongue cancer?' I said 'Why's that?' and he said, 'Well, if you really want to know why, if we do have to have surgery it's not going to be pretty. You'll lose part of you jaw and your tongue and all of that stuff.' So I said, 'OK sure.,'" Douglas added, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Douglas told Britain's The Guardian he contracted cancer from having oral sex.