“Top Chef” alum Shirley Chung has gone public with her cancer diagnosis.
Sharing a video on social media in which her hair is getting shaved, Chung wrote that she had some “personal news.”
The “Top Chef” Season 11 finalist and Season 14 competitor said she was initially “too busy to see an EMT specialist” but later developed ulcers in her mouth and “a hidden tumor” under her tongue.
Her treatment options, she wrote, were surgical removal of her tongue or treatment similar to a “unicorn case” of another chef who received radiation and chemotherapy at the University of Chicago.
While it meant relocating for treatment, Chung said she decided to try it.
Chung said she’s already completed six weeks of chemo with more to go. She ended her post on a hopeful note.
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 58,000 new cases of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers are diagnosed in the United States each year. About 20% of the cases occur in people younger than 55.
Acclaimed chef Grant Achatz spoke with NPR in a 2011 interview about his own experience with stage 4 tongue cancer and undergoing treatment at the University of Chicago.
Though it is not known if he is the patient Chung referred to as a “unicorn case” in her post, Achatz’s cancer went into remission and he eventually regained his sense of taste.
