Full House star diagnosed with tongue cancer

Actor Dave Coulier, who starred in the US TV sitcom Full House, has announced he has been diagnosed with tongue cancer.

It comes seven months after Coulier, 66, told fans he was cancer free, following his 2024 diagnosis of stage three non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

Speaking to NBC’s Today show, Coulier said his tongue cancer has “a 90% curability rate”, adding that he is undergoing 35 rounds of radiation that will end on 31 December.

Coulier explained his latest diagnosis is “totally unrelated to the previous cancer that I had”.

Coulier is best known for playing Joey Gladstone, or “Uncle Joey”, on Full House, a sitcom which aired on ABC between 1987 and 1995.

It followed a widowed father named Danny who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey to help him raise his three daughters after his wife’s death.

Coulier appeared in all 192 episodes, and later reprised his role for the 2016 Netflix reboot, titled Fuller House, which went on to run for five seasons.

In November 2024, Coulier announced he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and he quickly began chemotherapy after discovering it was stage three. Earlier this year, he announced he was cancer free.

But on Tuesday, Coulier told Today: “In October of this year, I went in for a PET scan, just a routine check-up and something flared on the PET scan.”

“It turned out that I have P16 squamous carcinoma at the base of my tongue. So I said to the doctors, ‘Well, did this happen because of the lymphoma?’ And they said, ‘Totally unrelated.'”

P16 carcinoma is also known as oropharyngeal tongue cancer. P16 is a protein that increases in cancer cells when human papillomavirus (HPV) is present.

Coulier said his doctors told him his tongue cancer “could stem from having an HPV virus up to 30 years ago”, adding: “A lot of people carry the HPV virus, but they said mine activated and turned into a carcinoma.”

The actor continued: “Prognosis is very good for P16 squamous carcinoma, it has a 90% curability rate.

“But the thing that has really saved my life is that early detection saved my life, not just the first time but the second time as well.”

“So I hope you’re getting your check-ups. I hope you get your colonoscopies and breast exams and prostate exams, they will save your life.”

Referring to his tongue cancer diagnosis, Coulier explained “the doctor said the prognosis is good, but we’re going to start radiation immediately”.

“It’s a whole different animal than chemo. It doesn’t feel as aggressive, but there are still side effects.”