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Life-saving potato chip alerts woman to cancer

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — A Marysville, Washington, woman says her love of potato chips led to a discovery that may have saved her life.

Kristine Moore has eaten Ruffles potato chips every day for the past 20 years.

In February, a sharp fragment of a chip poked her tonsil. The next day, she felt like she was coming down with something and went to the doctor.

Her cancer is called squamous cell carcinoma of the left tonsil. If it weren't for the chip, she may not have felt the tumor. (Picture: courtesy of the Everett Herald)

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They tested her for strep, and it came back negative. But the doctor didn't like the look of her tonsils and took a biopsy. The results came back abnormal, and after further testing, they found a cancerous tumor.

Doctors say it was caught early. The cure rate for this type of cancer is up to 80 percent, especially if caught early.

"The potato chip was a blessing in disguise," Moore told KIRO 7 News. "I probably wouldn't have found out another year."

Moore believes smoking may have caused this cancer.

She has quit cold turkey after her diagnosis.

As for the Ruffles, that is another story.

"I know I shouldn't eat this many, but I love them," she said.

Moore's doctor at the Providence Regional Cancer Partnership in Everett where she will start her radiation and chemotherapy treatments in a few weeks.