Alex Trebek Shares Emotional, Inspiring Cancer Diagnosis Update

From Ryan Parker of The Hollywood Reporter

Alex Trebek on Wednesday gave an update on his cancer diagnosis, which he revealed exactly one year ago.


The iconic Jeopardy! host shared his message in a one-minute video posted by the show's Twitter account.

In it, Trebek started by noting he’d beaten the one-year survival rate for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients, which is 18 percent.

He then talked about what the last year has been like for him; the ups and quite a few downs, such as during his chemotherapy.

"There were moments of great pain," he said. "Moments when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and some massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on."

He continued, "But I brushed that aside very quickly, because that would have been a massive betrayal." The betrayal, he said, would have been to his wife and family, his millions of fans who sent prayers, and his finally his belief in God.

He closed by noting the two-year survival rate for his cancer is seven percent, but both he and his doctor are confident he will give another update a year from today.