“Full House” star Dave Coulier is facing a second cancer battle in less than a year.
The beloved comedian, 66, revealed he was diagnosed in October with HPV-related oropharyngeal tongue cancer — a discovery made just months after celebrating his recovery from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“To go through chemotherapy and feel that relief of ‘Whoa, it’s gone,’ and then to get a test that says, ‘Well, now you’ve got another kind of cancer’ … it’s a shock to the system,” Coulier shared on “Today.”
The Hollywood actor said his new diagnosis came with no warning signs.
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In March, Coulier completed chemotherapy and received encouraging news from his doctors that there were “no signs” of lymphoma. But a follow-up PET scan quickly changed everything.
“A couple of months ago, I had a PET scan and something flared on the scan,” he recalled.
“The doctor said, ‘We don’t know what it is, but there’s something at the base of your tongue.’”
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A painful biopsy initially came back clear, he shared.
“We thought, ‘This is great. We’re still not sure what it is, but there aren’t any cancer cells,’” he said.
But during his next scheduled PET scan in October, doctors found the growth had returned — and enlarged.
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A second biopsy, taken after removing a larger piece of tissue, confirmed early-stage P16 carcinoma. “They said it’s totally unrelated to my non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This is a new cancer. … I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Coulier said.
Doctors explained that P16-positive cancers are linked to HPV-16. “They said it could stem from having an HPV virus up to 30 years ago,” he said. “A lot of people carry the HPV virus, but they said mine activated and turned into a carcinoma.”
Despite the devastating news, Coulier saw a silver lining: “We found it early enough where it’s very treatable. … It’s got a 90% curability rate.” His doctor told him radiation treatments would begin immediately.
Coulier is now undergoing 35 radiation treatments, scheduled Monday through Friday through the end of the year. “It’s a whole different animal than chemo,” he noted. Side effects include nausea, “radiation brain” and lingering pain from the biopsy. Still, he kept his trademark humor, saying, “My joke usually is … I’m doing really well for a guy with cancer.”
His final treatment is set for Dec. 31.
“I get to start the new year saying, ‘I finished radiation yesterday!’ It’s kind of serendipitous,” he said.
Coulier continued to share the toll his cancer journey has taken.
“It’s emotional. It’s psychologically draining. It’s also a big drain to my wife, Melissa, which is the biggest drain on me, seeing how this affects her,” he shared.
Through it all, Coulier said he remains “cautiously optimistic.”
“I’m going to get on the other side of this,” he remarked.
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He credited his first cancer diagnosis for helping doctors detect the second.
“The silver lining here is that I had cancer, which helped me detect my other cancer,” he said. “Had I not gone in and listened to my doctors … I could be in a world of hurt.”
Coulier said this year has reshaped how he approaches his wellness.
He now focuses on daily exercise, cleaner eating, sauna sessions and infrared light therapy.
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“I’ve started to really give my body a chance,” he said on “Today.”
Chemotherapy also prompted him to examine the ingredients in every product he used — a “light-bulb moment” that led to founding AwearMarket, which he called “a digital marketplace for toxin-free wellness products.”
“I’ve taken a whole new approach to life, where I’m very — I don’t want to keep going back to this word — but aware now,” Coulier said.
Coulier starred in the popular sitcom “Full House” alongside the late Bob Saget, John Stamos, Lori Loughlin, Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The show ran for eight seasons, from 1987 to 1995.
