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Stanley Tucci reveals he was successfully treated for cancer

The diagnosis was made three years ago, but radiation and chemotherapy appear to have thwarted the growth, the "Hunger Games" actor said.
Final Portrait Photocall In Rome
Stanley Tucci in 2018 in Rome.Ernesto Ruscio / Getty Images file

Actor Stanley Tucci recently revealed he was diagnosed with tongue cancer that appears to have gone into remission with treatment.

Tucci, who lost his wife, Kate, to breast cancer in 2009, told Vera magazine in its September cover story that a cancerous tumor on the base of his tongue was too large for surgical removal, so he had to endure "high-dose" radiation and chemotherapy.

"I’d vowed I’d never do anything like that, because my first wife died of cancer, and to watch her go through those treatments for years was horrible," Tucci, 60, told the magazine.

The "Hunger Games" actor, who lives in London, said the diagnosis came three years ago and subsequent treatment appears to have thwarted the growth. The publication said Tucci touched wood with both hands as he said the cancer was unlikely to return.

"I feel much older than I did before I was sick," he told the magazine. "But you still want to get ahead and get things done."

Tongue cancer has an overall relative survival rate of 67 percent within five years of diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society.

Kate was 47 when she died, and Tucci said early this year that he still mourns the loss. "You never stop grieving," he told CBS Sunday Morning in January.

The couple have three children, twins Nicolo and Isabel, 21, and Camilla, 19.

Tucci married Felicity Blunt, sister of his "The Devil Wears Prada" co-star Emily Blunt, in 2012. The pair have two children, Matteo Oliver, 6, and Emilia Giovanna, 3.

Tucci has found success as an anthropological epicurean on CNN's "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy."