‘Lucky’ Larry reveals cancer

LOS ANGELES — Larry King got the dreaded diagnosis of lung cancer over the summer — but he’s breathing easier after a successful surgery, he told the Daily News.

The Brooklyn-born broadcasting legend said his saga started in early July when his doctor noticed a “very small” spot on his lungs thanks to a routine chest X-ray.

Followup testing pointed to cancer, but his doctor still let him fly to Norway and Britain to give planned speeches, assuring the talk show star he was in “no immediate danger,” King said.

Doctors then removed the tissue during a surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. on July 17 and confirmed it was Stage 1 malignant, he said.

“For me it was lucky. They took it out. Now I have to get chest X-rays every six months,” King (photo inset) told The News. “I feel like I had cancer for a minute.”

King said he went public with his health scare to warn others. He had “no clue” he was in trouble, until the X-ray. “I want to stress the importance of getting a chest X-ray every time you have a physical. “Some people do skip it because it’s not in the same doctor’s office, maybe they have to go down the hall or to another building,” he said. King, 83, was a heavy smoker leading up to his heart attack in 1987. He even smoked in the shower. “I would keep it on the soap dish so it wouldn’t get too wet,” he recalled. “They said even 30 years later, (my cancer) was still related to the smoking,” King told The News. The Emmy-winning chatterbox said he’s feeling good and already back to work, hosting his web-based shows “Larry King Now” and “Politicking with Larry King.” “I’ve been working. I just left work,” he said Wednesday. “I’m still watching my weight, keeping it down, going on walks and watching my kids grow up.”