Alex Trebek, the host of “Jeopardy!” said that he is in “near remission” after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer three months ago.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” Trebek 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.”
The 78-year-old Trebek has been undergoing chemotherapy and said he would have to undergo several more rounds of treatment. He said he had “tears of joy” upon hearing the recent news from doctors. Despite the positive developments, his form of cancer has only a 9% survival rate.
Trebek, who has hosted the popular game show since 1984, announced on the air in March that he had the deadly disease.
“Just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” Trebek said at the time. “Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working, 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.”
[Opinion: Sadly, Alex Trebek is one of the few universally loved and trusted figures we have left]
