Dave Coulier has been diagnosed with tongue cancer

Dave explained that his tongue cancer diagnosis is "unrelated" to his previous illness (a type of blood cancer) and assured fans that the prognosis is much better.

Speaking on NBC's Today, the 66-year-old actor said: "Totally unrelated to the previous cancer that I had.

"So in October of this year, I went in for a PET scan, just a routine check-up and something flared on the PET scan. It turned out that I have P16 squamos carcinoma at the base of my tongue.

"So I said to the doctors, I said, 'Well, did this happen because of the lymphoma?' And they said, 'Totally unrelated.'"

Coulier will undergo 35 rounds of radiation but is set to finish his treatment by the end of the year.

He told Today co-host Craig Melvin: "Prognosis is very good for P16 squamos carcinoma. So it has a 90 per cent curability rate.

"But the thing that has really saved my life, Craig, is that early detection saved my life, not just the first time but the second time as well. So I hope you're getting your check-ups. I hope you get your colonoscopies and breast exams and prostate exams, they will save your life."

Dave was cleared of Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March but revealed how what had seemed like a common cold almost thwarted his final round of treatment.

The Real Ghostbusters star said: "My blood levels were so low because after chemo treatment, red blood cells dive. All your levels, your white blood cells, everything, just your immune system just kind of crashes. And so I caught a cold during that last chemo treatment.

"I couldn't leave for 10 days because I knew that the cumulative effect of the chemotherapy was going to happen.

"So I attributed it to that instead of realising I have a cold and my immune system can't handle it right now.

"So I ended up in the hospital for four days while they administered an IV of antibiotics, for my fever to break. And they said, 'Look, we don't know what's going on...'

"I was a mess. And then we took some other tests and they finally boiled it down to, I had a rhinovirus."