Michael Douglas is hopeful of making a full recovery after being diagnosed with throat cancer.

The 65-year-old Oscar winner has released a statement saying: "I am very optimistic."

The actor is now understood to be preparing for eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation to battle the tumour.

It is another blow for the Hollywood veteran whose son, Cameron, 32, was jailed earlier this year for drug offences.

Douglas, who is the son of movie legend Kirk Douglas, has been married to British actress Catherine Zeta Jones for ten years. They have two children: Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7.

He has enjoyed a long movie career spanning five decades.

At the Cannes Film Festival in May he unveiled the followup to 1987 hit Wall Street. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which also stars Shia LaBeouf, will be released in the UK in October.