Alex Trebek releases video marking 1 year since cancer diagnosis

In 2019, longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek revealed the heartbreaking news that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. One year later, he’s happy to report that he’s still fighting.

According to BuzzFeed News, Trebek released a video Wednesday wherein he revealed that he’s beaten the odds. “The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients is 18%,” the Jeopardy! host said in the clip, according to BuzzFeed. “I’m very happy to report I have just reached that marker.”

Looking back

Trebek, who is 79, also said in his video Wednesday that the last year has been anything but a smooth ride.

“I’d be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one. There were some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won’t kill me; the chemo treatments will,” the Jeopardy! host recalled.

He went on: “There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned, and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on.”

Fighting on

Trebek said he brushed those feelings off quickly, however, in part for his wife’s sake.

“That would have been a massive betrayal, a betrayal of my wife and soulmate, Jean, who has given her all to help me survive,” he said.

He also mentioned fellow cancer patients, who he said see him as an inspiration, and his faith in God. “It would have been a betrayal of other cancer patients who have looked to me as an inspiration and a cheerleader of sorts of the value of living and hope,” Trebek said. “And it would certainly have been a betrayal of my faith in God and the millions of prayers that have been said on my behalf.”

Take a look at his full video:

One day at a time

Born in Canada, Trebek immigrated to the United States in 1973 and went on to host a series of game shows before taking the reins at Jeopardy! in 1984, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He has remained the show’s host since, and in his video Wednesday, Trebek promised to keep fans “posted.”

“If I, no, if we — because so many of us are involved in this same situation — if we take it one day at a time with a positive attitude, anything is possible,” he concluded.