Michael Douglas says he will "never forget" the moment he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

The Oscar-winning actor was told he had stage IV throat cancer in August 2010, eight months after he first complained of soreness in the area, and he admits he "knew" the problem by the way the specialist looked at him.

He said: "I found an ear nose and throat doctor in Montreal. He literally opened my mouth and took a tongue impression and I'll never forget the moment when he looked up at me and looked back down and I knew."

Michael -- who has two children (Dylan, 11 and Carys, 8) with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones as well as grown-up son (Cameron, 32) from his first marriage -- admits he put off seeing a doctor about the issue because he thought he had simply damaged his throat while filming Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Michael Douglas is in a “precarious” state of health and is “suffering.”

That’s what director Oliver Stone told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday, RadarOnline.com learned.

Douglas, 66, has been bravely battling throat cancer but Stone’s remarks gave a little more insight into how difficult that battle is.