Alex Trebek’s Cancer Battle Takes A Turn, ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Begins Chemotherapy Again

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek spoke out Tuesday morning with an update on his battle against pancreatic cancer. He spoke with Good Morning America to share the disappointing news, but he noted that he remains optimistic and determined to keep fighting and conquer this cancer.

Trebek revealed last March that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This is a stage and type of cancer that typically has a rather grim prognosis, but Alex said he was not going to let that bring him down. He went through a series of chemotherapy treatments and was initially doing impressively well.

Just last month, Trebek said that he had finished chemotherapy and his numbers looked astonishingly good. Sadly, now, Alex says he has needed to start chemo treatments again.

Alex says that recently his blood marker numbers recently went sky-high, higher than they had even been at the time of his initial diagnosis. He also lost about 12 pounds in just one week, and he was experiencing a great deal of pain.

The iconic game show host says he’s still here and still optimistic. However, he does experience occasional bouts of sudden sadness and depression at times. Despite that, he’s determined to keep going.

Trebek added that he focuses on enjoying what he can now. He joked that he is 79-years-old, and he isn’t frightened of the idea of passing away. However, Alex did note that the idea of the heartbreak his loved ones will endure once he dies does scare him. He says he’s lived a good life, and he’s added he’s not planning to leave Jeopardy! anytime soon.

As The Inquisitr recently shared, a couple of weeks ago, Trebek returned to the Jeopardy! set to host a new run of episodes. He said that he had finished chemo and that he was on the mend.

T.J. Holmes of ABC News did the pre-taped interview with the Jeopardy! host, and he noted that Trebek had a doctor’s appointment on Monday as they did the interview. It seems that Alex expects results from that appointment back at some point on Tuesday, and those results should reveal additional information about the current status of his battle.

According to the American Cancer Society, the prognosis is typically quite grim for those diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Surgery is typically not an option, as seemed to be the case with Trebek, although that tends to present the best opportunity to beat the disease.

Despite what may be a significant setback in his pancreatic cancer battle, Alex Trebek is clearly determined to remain strong and optimistic. Jeopardy! fans will be anxious for additional updates and will be rooting for the game-show host to have good news to share again soon.