#Alex Trebek Shares Details of Experimental Treatment Amid Battle With Pancreatic Cancer

Alex Trebek opened up about his battle with pancreatic cancer on Monday’s Good Morning America, saying that he “expects to be around” to celebrate two full years of surviving the disease.

“My doctor has told me that he is counting on me celebrating two years of survivorship past the diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and that two years happens in February,” the Jeopardy! host said in an interview promoting his upcoming memoir.

“So I expect to be around — because he said I will be around — and I expect to be hosting the show if I am around.”

Trebek also talked about the experimental immunotherapy treatment that he has been getting throughout his battle. 

“They do a blood test to see what my CA 19 numbers are, and the CA 19 numbers are an indicator of how your pancreatic cancer is progressing,” Trebek explained.

“Eight weeks ago, the numbers were at about 3,500. Now, they’re below 100. So I’m going in the right direction,” he continued.

“The doctors have said they have never seen a chart like mine because there are peaks… They usually see it going up [steadily]. I’m a bit of an anomaly.”

He also spoke about if the immunotherapy does not prove to be successful, noting that he won’t “go to any extraordinary measures to ensure my survival.”

“I’ll just continue with chemo and see what happens,” he added.

“If the quality of life is not there, it’s hard sometimes to push and just say, ‘Well, I’m going to keep going, even though I’m miserable.’”

Holmes joked that Trebek had “buried the lede” about his “phenomenal” results, prompting Trebek to say the following:

“I’m on the right track. As I mentioned earlier, there are good days and there are bad days. I take into account the bad days.”

Here is the full interview. 

.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: @Jeopardy host Alex Trebek speaks with our @tjholmes about undergoing an experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer and releasing a new memoir. https://t.co/gjPg9CURBj pic.twitter.com/TPLHOMprCL

— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 20, 2020

Jeopardy! exhausted its inventory of original episodes in June following the COVID-19 shutdown, which brought the TV industry to a halt. 

To help fill the show’s timeslot, four weeks of past episodes will air, including Trebek’s first episode as host. 

Trebek has been battling stage four pancreatic cancer since March 2019. 

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.