LOS ANGELES -- Michael Douglas is vowing to beat throat cancer.

The 65-year-old "Wall Street" star said in an interview with People magazine that he expects to make a full recovery after a walnut-sized tumor was found on the base of his tongue in early August. Mr. Douglas is currently undergoing an eight-week course of radiation and chemotherapy in New York. His doctors said there is no evidence that the cancer has spread.

"I'm treating this as a curable disease," he said. "It's a fight. I'll beat this."

Mr. Douglas drew gasps from the audience Tuesday night on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," when he revealed he was Stage 4.

Mr. Letterman asked whether Stage 4 was a good diagnosis. "Um no," Mr. Douglas replied. "You like to be down at Stage 1 . . . but it has not -- the big thing you're always worried about is it spreading.

He said it was still above the neck. "The expectations are good."

A Stage 4 cancer typically has spread far beyond the original tumor and is usually impossible to cure.

Mr. Douglas' wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, said the most difficult part of the ordeal has been seeing her husband fatigued "because Michael is never tired." Ms. Zeta-Jones, who has two children -- Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7 -- with Mr. Douglas, said she was furious doctors didn't detect the tumor earlier. Mr. Douglas said he spent months seeking a cause for throat and ear pain.

"Without having to blame anybody . . . these things sometimes just don't show up," he said.

Besides his medical battle, Mr. Douglas is also facing a legal showdown. Lawyers representing the actor and his ex-wife Diandra Douglas are tangling over her claim that she's entitled to half his earnings from "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the "Wall Street" sequel set to open Sept. 24. Mr. Douglas said the lawsuit "kind of came out of left field."

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