Larry King’s representative confirmed that the longtime TV and radio host recently underwent treatment for lung cancer.
King, 83, was found to have stage 1 Adenocarcinoma during a routine chest examination, his rep told CNN. The cancer is a type of non-small cell lung cancer, which makes up 80 to 85 percent of lung cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.
“He immediately underwent a successful surgery to remove the upper lobe and lymph node” in July, the rep added, noting that King returned to work two weeks later.
King, who recently celebrated 60 years in broadcasting, opened up about his cancer diagnosis to Mario Lopez on “Extra” Wednesday.
“It wasn’t really a battle,” he told Lopez. “It was really strange, Mario. I have a checkup every year. I’ve gone through a lot in my life — I’ve had a heart attack and heart surgery. Part of my checkup is the chest X-ray, and that is the protocol. I do it every year ... it was always normal.”
During his surgery, doctors found out that a spot appearing in his scans was malignant and removed it, later telling King he was “fine.”
“I had no clue at all,” King said. “If I had not had the chest X-ray, it would have progressed.”
The Lung Cancer Alliance recommends lung cancer screening for individuals aged 55-80 who have a smoking history of 30 years or more, recently quit smoking, or are current smokers.
HuffPost has reached out to King’s rep for more details.
