‘Jeopardy!’ Host Alex Trebek Shares ‘Mind-Boggling’ Update on Cancer

‘Jeopardy!’ Host Alex Trebek Shares ‘Mind-Boggling’ Update on Cancer
Alex Trebek poses in the press room during the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Pasadena, Calif., on May 5, 2019. (Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)

Almost three months after announcing his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis, “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek has good news.

In an interview with People magazine, Trebek revealed he’s “near remission,” according to doctors.

Despite the cancer having a nine percent survival rate, Trebek seems to have been responding well to chemotherapy.

“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” the 78-year-old told People magazine. “The doctors said they hadn’t seen this kind of positive result in their memory … some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 percent.”

Trebek revealed that he became emotional when he learned the news and cried “happy tears.” He also thanked his millions of fans around the world, who he credits with his success so far.

“I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy directed towards me and their prayers,” he told People magazine. “I told the doctors, this has to be more than just the chemo, and they agreed it could very well be an important part of this.”

“I’ve got a lot of love out there headed in my direction and a lot of prayers, and I will never ever minimize the value of that,” he added.

Early in March this year, Trebek announced his cancer diagnosis in a video to the world, where he vowed to “fight this” and asked for support from friends, family and fans.

“And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease,” he said

Earlier this month, Trebek opened up about his struggles with chemotherapy on “Good Morning America.”

“My oncologist tells me I’m doing well even though I don’t always feel it,” he told “GMA’s” Robin Roberts. He added that while he’s used to dealing with pain, “what I’m not used to dealing with is these surges that come on suddenly of deep, deep sadness, and it brings tears to my eyes.”

The “Jeopardy!” star said the treatments have been going well so far, but added it was important for him to be able to open up about the depression he is facing.

“The cancer indicators, those are coming down. I’ve got another chemo next week and we’ll do a review and see where things stand,” he said. “Chemo affects people in different ways and people have to understand that, and that there’s nothing wrong with saying ‘Hey, I’m really depressed today and I don’t know why.'”

Despite the toll of the treatments, Trebek made sure to take a moment to thank everyone for the outpouring of support he has received.

“People all over America have been sharing the good thoughts, their advice, their prayers, and I feel that it is making a difference in my well-being,” he said.

“I think I’ve learned that I’m an extremely lucky individual because, in spite of the fact that this diagnosis is not a good one, I’ve managed to receive so much love from so many people,” he said.

Trebek ended his message to fans with an optimistic outlook for the future. After hosting the show for 35 years, he said he has no plans to stop.

“Hopefully, everything is going to turn out well and I’ll be back on the air with original programming this September,” he said.

Alex Trebek Grateful
“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek during his show. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
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