Actor and comedian Dave Coulier says he is now in remission from tongue cancer, which he was diagnosed with one year after finishing treatment for another type of cancer, Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride for sure,” Coulier said in a live interview Wednesday on Good Morning America. “I’m in remission with both cancers. And what a journey this has been.”
The 66-year-old actor revealed in December that he had been diagnosed with p16 squamous carcinoma at the base of his tongue, one year after he completed treatment for Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“I was going in for a checkup for the lymphoma and got a PET scan and it revealed that something was in my throat, and they said, ‘Let’s take a look at this,'” Coulier recalled on GMA.
Coulier said he underwent a robotic surgery so doctors could get a biopsy and confirm a second cancer diagnosis, which doctors told him was unrelated to his previous cancer diagnosis.
“It was revealed that I have carcinoma. And totally unrelated,” said Coulier. “That PET scan and early detection … saved my life.”
Coulier previously said he would undergo 35 radiation treatments through the end of 2025 to address the squamous carcinoma. He opened up about the experience on GMA as well.
“[Radiation has] totally different side effects. It can steal parts of your life away from you — psychologically, emotionally and certainly physically,” Coulier said. “And I wasn’t going to allow cancer to do that. I was going to laugh my way through it and keep the people that I love close to me and that helps.”
Coulier credits his family and close friends, like Full House co-star John Stamos, for supporting him along his cancer journey.
“My wife, Melissa, has been amazing through all of this. I just love her to death,” Coulier said.
“And John flew into Michigan, came and visited us and made me laugh,” he added. “He’s my brother. He wore a bald cap, and when he came around the corner, dressed like that, I dropped to the floor laughing. And he got COVID while he was staying with us. [We were] like two fifth-graders sitting in the hallway, talking to each other with walkie-talkies.”
Coulier said he hopes to encourage others to pay attention to their health and get regular checkups as necessary.
“I never wanted to be the poster boy for cancer, believe me, but now I feel like I can encourage people to get those prostate exams and mammograms and just talk to your doctors and get ahead of this,” Coulier said. “Because even though I’m in remission, I feel like cancer is always in the rear-view mirror … so early detection really means everything.”
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