BOSTON — "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek shocked fans Wednesday when he announced he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Despite the grim diagnosis, the 78-year-old is keeping a positive attitude, telling fans he plans to fight it.
The disease has low survival rates, with statistics from The American Cancer Society showing the five-year survival rate for stage 4 of the disease at 3 percent. The relative survival rate compares people with the same stage of the disease to the general population. People with Trebek's cancer are about 3 percent as likely to live for at least five years after being diagnosed as people without the disease.
#PancreaticCancer typically spreads rapidly to nearby organs and is seldom detected in its early stages. But for people with pancreatic cysts or family history, some screening steps might help detect a problem early. Learn more: https://t.co/L5QIIHM4kn. pic.twitter.com/ZJJ79JfTmp
— Mayo Clinic (@MayoClinic) March 7, 2019
>> Alex Trebek: What you need to know about pancreatic cancer
Dr. Brian Wolpin, the director of the Hale Family Pancreatic Research Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers, joined Boston 25 News to talk about the disease.
Related: Colon cancer rates rising in young adults
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
