In anticipation of Alex Trebek’s upcoming summer memoir, fans are sending the Jeopardy host messages of support and well wishes as he continues to battle stage four pancreatic cancer.
Trebek, 79, has been battling cancer since 2019, and even though he’s beating the odds in regards to treatment, people are still concerned about his health amid COVID-19. Not only have fans wished Trebek a speedy recovery, but once news broke that he plans to release a memoir in July, fans are excited for the summer read.
Read MoreI lost my Daddy to Cancer but my Momma beat it! Prayers to all those courageously battling this disease-you are superheroes in my book. #CancerSucks Keep fighting , Alex Trebek, Millions are lifting you in heartfelt prayers. I cant wait to read #WhoIsAlexTrebek on July 21. https://t.co/6zC8AlYRVX
— Kristi Hoss Schiller (@kkschiller) April 18, 2020
My daughter asked why we were watching Jeopardy every night ("such an old person thing to do"). My answer was that it represented pre-Corona life perfectly, and was completely comforting.
I also like knowing that Alex Trebek is at home, writing his memoir.— Blelph 🐝 (@Blelphish) May 8, 2020
I hope Alex Trebek is doing well today.
— armed bobbery ✨ (@Qualiphied_) May 21, 2020
Encouraging Updates On Trebek’s Health
Ruta Lee, a close friend, told Closer Weekly this week that Trebek is "managing quite well" during the coronavirus outbreak. While he is currently beating the odds and taking to treatments, the virus still poses a serious risk. According to Lee, Trebek has been keeping busy at home by fixing things around the house and reading.
In a video posted on Facebook, Trebek shared his most recent health update, announcing that he had beaten the odds and survived for one year after his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis, a milestone achieved by only 18% of patients with the same diagnosis.
Screening For Pancreatic Cancer And Treatment
Screening for cancer can be a life-saver for many patients in order to catch the disease early. This is especially the case for pancreatic cancer, seeing as nearly 57,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in a year and the five year survival rate of just nine percent.
Although pancreatic cancer survival rates have been improving for decades, it's still considered to be largely incurable. An exception to this is if the tumor is still small enough and localized enough to be operated on. As most pancreatic cancers are particularly aggressive and progress rapidly, this means it needs to be caught early.
Dr Anirban Maitra explains why screening is critical for potential pancreatic cancer patients
Catching a pancreatic cancer diagnosis early is critical, especially since the disease itself is extremely hard to treat if caught at a later stage.
"It is the solid tumor cancer that has the worst prognosis. It is right now the third leading cause of cancer death, soon to be the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States," says Dr. Allyson Ocean, Medical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center. "Mortality is rising because it is caught so late and we don't have enough effective medications against the cancer."
Related: Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Early Is Crucial
Unlike other types of cancer, chemotherapies are sometimes not extremely effective in treating pancreatic cancer. This is because of the stroma surrounding the cancer cells, which serves as a barrier in preventing the chemotherapy to take effect.
“Think of pancreatic cancer as an oatmeal raisin cookie and the raisins are actually the cancer cells, and the cookie part is actually all the stroma around it,” Dr. Ocean explains. “And imagine having to navigate through all that stroma for a treatment to be able to get into a cell to kill it. So that's why the treatments just really aren't good enough to penetrate the cancer. But we're improving, we're getting better treatments."
Dr. Allyson Ocean explains why pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat
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