‘Top Chef’s Shirley Chung Shares Health Update Revealing Rare Cancer Diagnosis

Top Chef alum Shirley Chung is battling a rare form of cancer, she revealed in a vulnerable new social media post earlier this week.

The season 14 runner-up shared the health update with her followers after completing her first six weeks of chemotherapy, which she likened to "a full time job" as it requires her to go to the hospital several times a week for injections.

After several months of dental issues, including a fractured tooth that required an extraction and implant, and a number of ulcers "erupt[ing]" in her mouth, Chung was diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes.

Tongue cancer is rare, making up less than one percent of diagnoses in the US, according to the Cleveland Clinic , though it is one of the most common types of cancers diagnosed in the head and neck.

"I was very calm when doctors delivered the news, as a chef, I’ve always thrive [sic] under pressure," she wrote in the update, alongside several pictures showing her and her supportive husband, Jimmy Lee , shaving their heads. But as she and her oncologist began discussing treatment options, she "broke down, crying, trying to put thoughts together and ask questions but physically couldn’t." Her best option was surgery that would result in the complete removal of her tongue, which came with the highest survival rate, but after hearing about "a unicorn case" where another chef was cured with radiation and chemo, she chose to travel to Chicago to "keep [her] tongue."

"I chose to keep my tongue, I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too," she thought.

Though she still has "many more" weeks of chemo to go, the tumor is already shrinking and Chung is already seeing improvements in her speech, and the process is helping her learn "to lean on others, to let go, to be more vulnerable."

"I am learning, I can be strong 98% of the time, it’s ok to be not ok," she added, acknowledging the "tough long road to recovery" ahead of her and looking forward to "Shirley Chung 2.0" being "reborn in 2025!"

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