Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek Marks Milestone In Pancreatic Cancer Battle
(CBS) – Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek shared some positive news Wednesday amid his ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer.
"The one-year survival rate for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients is 18 percent," Trebek said in a video message posted to fans. "I'm very happy to report I have just reached that marker."
Trebek announced last March that doctors had diagnosed him with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. "I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease," he said at the time. In September he announced a "setback" that sent him back into chemotherapy.
He has continued to host the popular game show throughout his illness, with production paused at times to accommodate his treatment.
"I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one," Trebek said in his Wednesday message. "There were some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days. There were moments of great pain… and sudden massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on."
But fight he did, saying that it would have been a "betrayal" to his family, fans, and fellow cancer patients, if he gave up.
Trebek noted that the two-year survival rate for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients is just seven percent.
"If we take it just one day at a time, with a positive attitude, anything is possible," he concluded.
Jeopardy! can be seen on WBZ-TV Monday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
