‘Top Chef’ alum Shirley Chung was diagnosed with tongue cancer — and ‘a series of dental issues’ were her first clue something was wrong

[Pelican Press 0]

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‘Top Chef’ alum Shirley Chung was diagnosed with ******* ******* — and ‘a series of dental issues’ were her first clue something was wrong

Chef Shirley Chung, a two-time finalist on the cooking show Top Chef, has been diagnosed with ******* ******* and is undergoing intensive treatment for the ********. The chef and owner of

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, who placed third on Top Chef: New Orleans and was runner-up three years later on Top Chef: Charleston, shared the news on

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over the weekend alongside a series of photos and videos that show her shaving her head with the help of loved ones.

Chung revealed in the caption of the post that her tumor is shrinking with the help of chemotherapy sessions, but noted that she has “many more to go.” She shared in a separate

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that she would be pausing the operation of her restaurant so that she could focus on her treatment and recovery.

******* ******* isn’t a common ********. Here’s what to know about it — and what Chung has shared about her condition.

What has Shirley Chung said about her ******* *******?

Chung wrote in an

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post that she had a series of dental issues that started last December. “I bit my ******* severely; I fractured my tooth and had to extract it and get an implant. … We thought it was because I am a heavy teeth grinder,” she wrote. Chung said that she was “too busy” to see an ear, nose and throat specialist, but her symptoms continued to get worse.

“The end of May, ulcers erupted in my mouth and my ***** surgeon discovered a hidden tumor under my *******,” she wrote. “A few days later, I was diagnosed [with] stage 4 ******* *******, as ******* cells also spread into my lymph nodes.”

Chung said she was “very calm” when she was given the news. “As a chef, I’ve always [thrived] under pressure,” she said. “I was extremely focused on getting all the tests and scans as fast as possible, so I can start on the treatment plans.”

But Chung said she “broke down crying” after her doctor at Cedars Sinai called her in early June to discuss treatment plans. “All I heard was ‘option 1, surgery [which meant] 100% removal of your *******,’” she said. Her husband, Jimmy Lee, asked doctors if there was an option that would let Chung keep her *******.

Chung said she was told about a “unicorn case” at the University of Chicago where a patient — and fellow chef — was cured of ******* ******* after receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments. “Higher survival rate or keep my *******? I chose to keep my *******,” she said. “I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too.”

Chung said she just finished six weeks of chemotherapy, with more treatments to come. “Going to the hospital four times a week for injections, it’s like a full-time job,” she wrote. “My tumor is shrinking, my speech is much better and I can eat most normal food now.”

Chung said she has a “tough, long road to recovery,” but added that “your love and support will carry me through. Cheer me on, Shirley Chung 2.0 will be reborn in 2025!”

What is ******* *******?

There are two main types of ******* *******. ***** ******* ******* is a ******* that happens in the front two-thirds of the *******, while oropharyngeal ******* ******* forms at the base of the ******* in the back portion of the mouth and can extend into the throat,

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, a head and neck surgeon at Moffitt ******* Center, tells Yahoo Life.

******* ******* makes up about 1% of new ******* cases, according to the

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(NCI).

“Over the past decade, there has been a slight annual increase in ******* ******* diagnoses in the country,”

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, assistant professor of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson ******* Center, tells Yahoo Life. ******* ******* is usually a type of

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, Akhave says. ******* cancers that happen in the front two-thirds of the mouth are usually caused by tobacco or alcohol use, but “non-smokers and non-drinkers can also develop them,” Akhave says.

Oropharyngeal ******* ******* can also be linked to alcohol or tobacco use, but is most often linked to

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, Akhave says.

What are the symptoms of ******* *******?

Symptoms of ******* ******* can be confused with other things, making this difficult to diagnose at first,

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, a head and neck surgeon and director of the Facial Nerve Disorders Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life. “It’s usually caught by a dentist,” he says.

These are some of the main symptoms someone with ******* ******* might experience, according to

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:

Red or white patches on your *******

Sores, lumps or mouth ulcers that don’t heal

A painful, swollen or bleeding ******* that doesn’t get better

A sore throat when swallowing

Difficulty moving your ******* or jaw

A feeling that something is stuck in your throat

Persistent hoarseness

Ear pain

“Patients will usually go to the dentist’s office for a routine cleaning and it will be detected,” Kochhar says. “The classic case is telling the dentist, ‘I bit my ******* and it’s not healing.’” From there, most dentists will refer a patient to an ear, nose and throat doctor or ***** surgeon for an evaluation.

“We’ll usually do a biopsy and then we’ll know if it’s ******* or something else,” Kochhar says.

What is the prognosis with ******* *******?

It depends. “The standard of care for ***** ******* ******* is generally surgery, potentially followed by radiation and chemotherapy,” Danan says.

But the stage the ******* is in matters. “Most ******* ******* is caught early, before it has spread below the collarbones,” Akhave says. “However, many people do present with ******* that involves lymph nodes in the neck.”

If someone has ******* ******* that’s caught early, doctors may recommend cutting out the tumor, along with a margin of tissue around it. “Oftentimes, you then let it heal on its own,” Kochhar says. Some patients may need to have a larger portion of the ******* removed, and then will have reconstructive surgery afterward to rebuild the *******.

Kochhar says it’s “exceptionally rare” to remove the whole *******, but it may be recommended in cases with large or aggressive tumors.

But Kochhar points out that the ******* is an important organ for speech, swallowing and taste, making this a difficult ******* treatment to recover from. “It can have a big impact on communication, although patients will typically do very well with speech therapy,” he says. Those who need to have the entire ******* removed can have issues communicating and may need to be dependent on a feeding tube due to problems swallowing, Kochhar says. “Obviously the quality of life would be reduced,” he says.

Chung isn’t the only high-profile chef to be confronted with the potential loss of the ******* due to *******. In 2007, Grant Achatz, an award-winning chef who most recently appeared as himself in the Season 3 finale of The Bear, underwent radiation and chemotherapy to avoid substantial surgery on his ******* after being diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the *******. Though his treatment did temporarily cause him to lose his sense of taste — an experience he documented in his memoir,

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— he is now in full remission.

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#Top #Chef #alum #Shirley #Chung #diagnosed #******* #******* #series #dental #issues #clue #wrong

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