‘Top Chef’ Star Shirley Chung Gives Health Update Nearly 1 Year After Cancer Diagnosis

Nine months after Shirley Chung announced that she’d been diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer, the Top Chef alum gave an update on her treatment and recovery. She shared selfies showing her progress following the removal of a G-tube, which she had installed in September 2024 amid chemo and radiation treatments.

The device was installed because the “inside of [her] mouth and throat were burnt so severely that drinking water felt like rubbing salt on [her] raw flesh,” Chung explained. She added that it helped her “stay alive” because “medicine, water, [and] nutritional shakes] were all fed through it over 6 months.”

“I am healing, and going to therapy to relearn how to swallow and speak,” Chung shared. “Although I still have a small part of my tongue that’s bleeding, but I am well enough to consume meds, water, and food through mouth the last 3 weeks. Just came back from @cedarssinai after a quick procedure, the small hole on my stomach will close in 3 to 5 days. I completed another chapter of cancer fighting journey. Almost there!!”

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A post shared by Shirley Chung (@chfshirleychung)

Chung previously competed on Seasons 11 and 14 of Top Chef, as well as Top Chef Duels. She was also on Seasons 3, 4, and 5 of Guy Fieri‘s Tournament of Champions on Food Network, Guy’s Grocery Games, and currently appears on House of Knives.

The chef received her cancer diagnosis in May 2024, five months after she began experiencing symptoms that began with a “series of dental issues.” However, she didn’t share the news publicly until two months later, telling her followers, “We thought it was because I am a heavy teeth grinder,” Chung explained a July 2024 post. “I was too busy to see [an] EMT specialist. 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 with stage 4 tongue cancer, as cancer cells also spread into my lymph nodes.”

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‘Top Chef’ Alum Shirley Chung Reveals Stage 4 Tongue Cancer Diagnosis

She received her treatment plans in early June, with the first option being 100% removal of her tongue. Her second option was relocating to Chicago from Los Angeles for chemo and radiation. “Higher survival rate, or keep my tongue? I chose to keep my tongue,” Chung shared.

At the time of her July post, she had already completed six weeks of chemo. She returned to Los Angeles in December after finishing her treatment in Chicago.