Alex Trebek has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Alex Trebek
The 'Jeopardy!' presenter candidly admitted he is aware that the prognosis for the disease is "not encouraging", but he's vowed to "fight" it and will continue working on the game show.
He said in a video message to fans: "Hi everyone, I have some news to share with all of you. And it's in keeping with my longtime policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy fanbase. I also wanted to prevent you from reading or hearing some overblown or inaccurate reports regarding my health.
"So therefore, I wanted to be the one to pass along this information. Now, just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer."
"Now normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this and I'm going to keep working."
The 78-year-old star - who has children Matthew, 29, and Emily, 27, with wife Jean Currivan - asked fans to pray for him to beat the disease.
He continued: "And with the love and support of my family and friends, and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."
And Alex joked he has to keep working because of the terms of his contract on the game show, which he has hosted for 35 years.
He quipped: "Truth told, I have to because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years! So help me!
"Keep the faith and we'll win. We'll get it done. Thank you."
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