‘Top Chef’ Alum Shirley Chung Reveals Stage 4 Tongue Cancer Diagnosis: Treatment Is ‘a Full-Time Job’

Top Chef Season 11 and 14 alum Shirley Chung has revealed she has Stage 4 tongue cancer and is currently undergoing treatments.

Chung, was a finalist in Top Chef Season 11 and competed again in Season 14, shared the difficult news in an Instagram post on July 26 that showed the celebrity chef shaving her head. The caption revealed that her treatment options were to surgically remove “100 percent” of her tongue or undergo radiation and chemotherapy. She chose the latter and has since undergone six weeks of treatment.

“Since last year December, I had a series of dental issues, I bit my tongue severely; I fractured my tooth and had to extract it and get an implant… we thought it was because I am a heavy teeth grinder. And I was too busy to see a EMT specialist,” Chung said in the caption. “The end of May, ulcers erupted in my mouth and my oral surgeon discovered a hidden tumor under my tongue. A few days later, I was diagnosed, stage 4 tongue cancer, as cancer cells also spread into my lymph nodes.”

She was absorbing the information calmly at first, up until the doctor said that the best treatment option would be complete removal of her tongue. Her hopes were raised when she was told of a “unicorn case” involving a chef who was “cured” by chemo and radiation.

 

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A post shared by Shirley Chung (@chfshirleychung)

“I broke down, crying, trying to put thoughts together and ask questions but physically couldn’t, all I heard was ‘option 1, surgery, 100 percent removal of your tongue,'” Chung wrote. “Jimmy was holding it together for both of us, asking if we have any option that I can keep my tongue and the survival rates. ‘There is another option, which was a unicorn case, at University of Chicago, they cured a patient (a chef!) with radiation and chemo, but you will have to go to Chicago.’ Higher survival rate, or keep my tongue? I chose to keep my tongue, I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too.”

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Chung said treatment has been like “a full-time job” but that the results have been promising so far. She says there’s a “long road to recovery” ahead.

“I just finished 6 weeks of Chemo (and have many more to go), going to the hospital 4 times a week for injections, it’s like a full time job. My tumor is shrinking, my speech is much better and I can eat most normal food now,” she shared. “I am learning to lean on others, to let go, to be more vulnerable ….. it took me 2 weeks of contemplating to decide to tell my parents about my cancer, only my close circle of friends and my sister have known until now. I am learning, I can be strong 98 percent of the time, it’s OK to be not OK. I have a tough long road to recovery in front of me. Your love and support will carry me through. Cheer me on, Shirley Chung 2.0 will be reborn in 2025!”

Chung is surrounded by loved ones as her head gets shaved in the video shared above, and the post includes photos from the experience. A loved one shaved their head along with her. The comments section is flooded with words of support for the Top Chef alum.