Trebek received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in March 2019, but he continued to perform his role as the host of the popular game show for the next eighteen months. Throughout that time, Trebek continued to provide updates about his treatment and health status to his fans around the world. Although Trebek initially responded well to treatment, his prognosis had worsened by summer of 2020. In a July interview in The New York Times, Trebek said that if his current round of cancer treatment failed, he planned to stop treatment. “There comes a time when you have to make a decision as to whether you want to continue with such a low quality of life, or whether you want to just ease yourself into the next level. It doesn’t bother me in the least,” Trebek told the paper. Trebek is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jean, and his three children.
A Legendary Career in Television
Trebek was born and raised in Ontario, Canada, and graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in philosophy. After starting a career as newscaster and game show host in his home country, he migrated to the United States in 1973 to work as a host for NBC. As the face and voice of Jeopardy!, Trebek has won seven Daytime Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Game Show Host category. He hosted more than 8,200 episodes over nearly 37 seasons, setting the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of a single game show. In 2011, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. “This is an enormous loss for the Jeopardy! staff, crew, and all of Alex’s millions of fans, said Mike Richards, the show’s executive producer, in a statement released by Sony Pictures. “Working beside him for the past year and a half as he heroically continued to host Jeopardy! was an incredible honor. His belief in the importance of the show and his willingness to push himself to perform at the highest level was the most inspiring demonstration of courage I have ever seen. His constant desire to learn, his kindness, and his professionalism will be with all of us forever,” said Richards. According to the statement, the last day that Trebek worked in the studio was October 29, and episodes hosted by Trebek will continue to run through December 25, 2020. The show is not announcing plans for a new host at this time.
Cancer Isn’t About ‘Winning and Losing’
Throughout his career, publishers tried to persuade Trebek to write about his life. He finally relented, in large part because of how moved he was by the outpouring of love and support he received after he went public with his cancer battle. “I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,” he wrote in The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life, which was released in July 2020. “I don’t like to use the words battling or fighting when talking about cancer. It suggests that there are only two outcomes: winning and losing. If you don’t get well, then you are a ’loser.’ If you have decided to stop treatment, you are ‘giving up.’ That’s nonsense … It is not a fair fight. Not even close. It is simple biology. You get treatment and you get better. Or you don’t. And neither outcome is an indication of your strength as a person.”
Trebek Lived Longer Than the Average Person With Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer
Approximately 53,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, accounting for about 3 percent of all diagnosed cancers. Although relatively rare, ranking as the 11th most common cancer, it’s the third-leading cause of cancer death, after lung cancer and colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). It’s estimated that 47,050 people will die of pancreatic cancer this year. “The average prognosis for someone with stage 4 pancreatic cancer is about 9 to 12 months, so Alex Trebek actually lived longer than average, which is sad to say,” wrote Suneel Kamath, MD, a pancreatic cancer medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, in an email. “I hope that someday through our research efforts that surviving with stage 4 pancreatic cancer for 21 months is no longer considered above average and all of our patients do a lot better,” he added. A large part of the challenge is that are no there are no specific, cost-effective ways to screen people that would help catch pancreatic cancer before it spreads to other parts of the body, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Approximately 50 percent have progressed to stage 4 by the time they receive a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer is hard to detect early because it doesn’t cause symptoms early on, according to Dr. Kamath. “The pancreas is a deeper organ in the abdomen area that we don’t normally feel or experience. Most importantly, even small, early stage pancreatic cancers spread and become stage 4 much faster than breast or colon cancer,” he stated. The aggressive spread of pancreatic cancer is why the number of patients with early stage (stage 1 or 2) pancreatic cancer who are alive 5 years after diagnosis is only 37 out of 100, wrote Kamath. “For breast cancer, that number is 99 out of 100 and for colon cancer, it is 90 out of 100,” he wrote.
Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer Can Be Harsh
“Combinations of either two or three chemotherapies are the best treatments for most patients with pancreatic cancer; these are often harsh treatments,” noted Kamath. “We always make a shared decision with patients and their families about how aggressive to be, based on their overall goals, age, and health status,” he added. For most patients, immunotherapy is not effective, according to Kamath. “There are about 1 percent of patients with a particular genetic change, called microsatellite instability, where immunotherapy does work well. Targeted or precision medicine therapies are also rarely effective,” he wrote.
Is It Possible to Reduce Your Risk for Pancreatic Cancer?
Unfortunately, there are very few things people can do to prevent pancreatic cancer, and there is no screening test, according to Kamath. It is possible that being overweight or obese could increase your risk, and so being at a healthy weight could help, but that isn’t fully established, he added. Paying attention to your health and being aware of possible symptoms of pancreatic cancer could help you get an earlier diagnosis, according to Kamath. “Sudden and drastic weight loss is a very common feature of pancreatic cancer, even more so than with other cancers. Additionally, if you develop a new pain in your stomach area, especially if the pain also goes to the back, that can be a sign of something wrong in the pancreas,” he wrote. Additionally, knowing your family medical history is important, stated Kamath. “People should understand that a family history of breast cancer or prostate cancer may actually indicate a hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, too.”
More Resources Need to Be Devoted to Pancreatic Cancer Research
There is a tremendous amount of ongoing research to develop blood tests to detect pancreatic cancer earlier, according to Kamath. “The first precision medicine drug for pancreatic cancer was approved in December 2019 and there are many more in the pipeline,” he wrote. Precision medicine is a medical approach to patient care that enables doctors to use treatments that have the greatest chances to help people with cancer based on a genetic understanding of their disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. One reason there are fewer advances in pancreatic cancer is that it does not receive the charity funding it deserves, according to Kamath. Kamath is the author of research that was published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in March 2019 that compared the funding of research and advocacy with the incidence and death rates for different types of cancer. Investigators found that pancreatic cancer charities received $58 million in funding in 2015, while it led to 43,090 deaths that year. Breast cancer received nearly eight times that — a total of $460 million and led to 41,070 deaths. “We will never make more progress for patients with pancreatic cancer if we don’t generate more funding and support for pancreatic cancer research,” wrote Kamath.
Trebek Leaves a Legacy of Humility and Excellence
In an interview in September 2019 with Good Morning America, Trebek discussed his feelings on death. “The thought of passing on doesn’t frighten me. Other things do. The effect it will have on my loved ones. Yes, that bothers me. It makes me sad. But the thought of myself moving on? Hey, folks, it comes with the territory,” he said. In addition to the adoration of thousands of devoted fans all over the world, Trebek also earned deep respect and affection from the people who knew him well. Ken Jennings, who holds the record for the longest winning streak on the game show with 74 wins, tweeted: “Alex wasn’t just the best ever at what he did. He was also a lovely and deeply decent man, and I’m grateful for every minute I got to spend with him.” At the end of his memoir, Trebek wrote, “My life has been a quest for knowledge and understanding, and I’m nowhere near having achieved that. And it doesn’t bother me in the least.”
