“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek is cautiously optimistic after learning his stage 4 pancreatic cancer is in near-remission and responding well to chemotherapy treatment.
Trebek announced his diagnosis in a video message to fans in March and said he plans to continue working as the host of “Jeopardy!” while undergoing treatment. He’s so far made good on that promise and presided over James Holzhauer’s ongoing winning streak.
Speaking to People, the 78-year-old game show host revealed that his doctors are shocked at how well his tumors are responding to treatment.
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“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” he said. “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 cried “happy tears” when he learned that the treatment was working after struggling with it for weeks. He noted that he believes he has a distinct edge over the average person battling the disease.
“I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy directed toward me and their prayers,” he shared. “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.”
He continued: “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.”
While Trebek’s prognosis is good given the cancer’s reported nine percent survival rate, he notes that he’s still got several more difficult rounds of chemotherapy before he’s in full remission. Trebek has been incredibly open about the physically and emotionally taxing process of chemotherapy.
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The star previously revealed to “Good Morning America” that he’s able to take the pain, but was having issues with depression as a result of the chemo.
“What I’m not used to [is] dealing with the surges that come on suddenly of deep, deep sadness and it brings tears to my eye. I’ve discovered in this whole episode, ladies and gentlemen, that I’m a bit of a wuss.”
He also told CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley that he was writhing in pain on the floor between “Jeopardy!” shoots.
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“I taped the show and then I made it to the dressing room on one occasion, just barely, before I writhed in pain and cried in pain,” Trebek recalled. “And I had 15 minutes before the next show. So, I got myself together and spasms of that kind usually last about 10 to 15 minutes. So, all right, here we go again: ‘Anybody got any pain pills?’ And, I don’t like taking pain pills. But I got through it.”