Dave Coulier Diagnosed with Tongue Cancer After Overcoming Lymphoma
Dave Coulier has disclosed that he is now receiving treatment for tongue cancer, just under a year after successfully battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The 66-year-old shared his latest health news during an interview on the Today show on Tuesday, December 2. “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 is a shock to the system,” he explained, revealing that he was diagnosed with HPV-related oropharyngeal tongue cancer in October.
Coulier mentioned that he did not experience any symptoms before a follow-up scan unexpectedly confirmed his second cancer diagnosis.
“It was a really tough year; chemotherapy was grueling,” Coulier recalled. “A couple of months ago, I had a PET scan, and something flared on the scan. The doctor said, ‘We don’t know what it is, but there’s something at the base of your tongue.’”
Following a biopsy, Coulier’s doctor confirmed the health issue.
“It was very painful. It’s like if you bit your tongue, but the pain lasted every single day,” he explained. “They said it’s totally unrelated to my non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This is a new cancer. … I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
Coulier first announced his stage III non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in November 2024.
“I went from having a bit of a head cold to having cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming,” he told People at that time, describing the cancer as “very aggressive” but reassuring that it had not spread to his bone marrow. “At that point, my chances of being cured went from something low to [the] 90 percent range. And so that was a great day.”
Coulier recounted how he informed his former Full House co-stars about the news: “I didn’t want them to hear it from someone else, so I sent a text message out. There was just this outpouring of, ‘I will be there. You just name the time, and I know you’re in great hands with [wife Melissa Bring], but what can we do?’ The love we have for each other is overwhelming. We’ve supported each other for many years, and it’s pretty remarkable.”
Earlier this year, Coulier announced he was officially cancer-free but is now facing early stage P16 carcinoma, also referred to as oropharyngeal tongue cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, P16 is a protein indicative of HPV, or human papillomavirus. A P16-positive cancer arises from infection with HPV-16, known as a high-risk type of HPV. (The National Cancer Institute noted that HPV-16 is sexually transmitted and a persistent infection can lead to cellular changes that may become cancerous.)
“They mentioned it could stem from having the HPV virus up to 30 years ago. Many people carry the HPV virus, but they indicated mine activated and developed into a carcinoma,” Coulier explained. “We found it early enough, so it’s very treatable. … It has a 90 percent curability rate.”
Coulier’s medical team has assured him that “the prognosis is good,” and he added, “But we’re going to start radiation immediately.” He is currently undergoing radiation therapy, consisting of 35 total treatments, five days a week until the year ends.
“It’s a whole different experience than chemo. It doesn’t feel as harsh, but there are still side effects,” he noted, mentioning symptoms such as nausea, “radiation brain,” and pain on the left side of his face and tongue. “That’s not fully healed yet.”
He went on, “My usual joke is … I’m doing really well for a guy with cancer. I get to start the new year saying, ‘I finished radiation yesterday!’ It feels kind of serendipitous.”
While reflecting on the health scare, Coulier discussed the impact on his mental health.
“It’s emotional. It’s psychologically draining. It’s also a big drain on my wife, Melissa, which is the hardest part for me to see how this affects her,” he added. “[I remain] cautiously optimistic. I’ll get through this. The silver lining here is that my previous cancer helped to identify this other cancer. It’s a strange statement, but it’s true.”
He concluded: “Had I not gone in and listened to my doctors and made sure to get that PET scan for follow-up, we would have never discovered this carcinoma … I could have faced significant issues. This could have progressed tremendously, and I would have been in serious trouble.”
Coulier’s cancer diagnosis coincides with the launch of his new business venture, AwearMarket.com, a digital marketplace focused on toxin-free, holistic wellness products. The brand offers a carefully curated selection of wellness items from various small businesses, with proceeds supporting the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
