Alex Trebek fights back—cancer in “near remission”

When Alex Trebek publicly announced in March that he had stage four pancreatic cancer, the entire Jeopardy! world collectively cried, as a beloved TV icon made a sombre announcement that he may be approaching his final days.

Trebek inspired all of us by saying that, rather than rolling over, he would fight tooth and nail and beat his diagnosis.

Well now, Trebek has shared some news that has given us Jeopardy! fans a glimpse of hope.

Canadian-American TV legend Alex Trebek recently announced that he is in “near remission” according to his doctors, adding that some of the tumours have shrunk by more than 50 percent.

"Kind of Mind-boggling"

Trebek’s diagnosis came with a 9 percent survival rate. But Trebek planned all along to beat the diagnosis. In his original announcement, the Sudbury-born icon stated that he “had to” beat cancer, joking that has to, “because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years!”

Trebek said that it was not easy for him, struggling with pain “on and off camera” while filming the most recent season of Jeopardy!”

"I was on the floor writhing in pain. It went from a 3 to an 11," Trebek said. "And it happened three or four times that day while we were taping. So, that was a little rough on me."

With hopes and prayers flooding in from across the globe, Trebek stays thankful and optimistic.

"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 said. "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."

Trebek has hosted over 7,000 episodes of Jeopardy!