Michael Douglas talked for the first time abouthis cancer Tuesday night on 'The Late Show with Dave Letterman,' the Associated Press reports. The actor told the audience he's in the middle of an "eight-week struggle" against throat cancer but is hopeful about his chances for recovery.

Douglas revealed that he was diagnosed three weeks ago though he'd complained of a sore throat at one point earlier this year. Testing at the time didn't find a cause for the pain. When he returned to the doctor after a summer of traveling with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their two kids Dylan Michael and Carys Zeta, he was diagnosed with stage-four cancer, "which is intense, and so they've had to go at it," he said.

When the actor revealed to Letterman that he'd just finished his first week of radiation and chemotherapy, the talk show host was visibly surprised. "You've never looked better to me, and this proves that you're a tough guy, for God's sakes," Letterman said.