Top Chef’s Shirley Chung Shares Stage 4 Tongue Cancer Diagnosis
![Top Chef’s Shirley Chung Shares Stage 4 Tongue Cancer Diagnosis Top Chef’s Shirley Chung Shares Stage 4 Tongue Cancer Diagnosis](https://i3.wp.com/akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2024630/cr_1200x1200-240730174433-GettyImages-669641236.jpg?fit=around%7C1080:1080&output-quality=90&crop=1080:1080;center,top&w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1)
Isabella Strahan Undergoes Another Surgery After Ending Chemotherapy for Brain Cancer
Shirley Chung has some difficult news.
The Top Chef alum shared that she has been diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer after doctors found a tumor under her tongue in May. The diagnosis came following a series of dental issues that started in December.
“I was very calm when doctors delivered the news,” Shirley wrote on Instagram July 26, “as a chef, I’ve always thrive under pressure. I was extremely focused on getting all the tests and scans as fast as possible, so I can start on the treatment plans.”
However, Shirley soon faced a difficult choice when it came to her health journey: She could undergo surgery to have her tongue removed or go through a more experimental treatment in Chicago that had would use radiation and chemo to remove the cancer, which she said had previously worked in “a unicorn case.”
“Higher survival rate, or keep my tongue?” she wrote. “I chose to keep my tongue, I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too.”