By William Wan William Wan National correspondent covering health, science and news Email Bio Follow March 7 at 11:47 AM Alex Trebek ended his announcement Wednesday that he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer with a somber vow.
What makes pancreatic cancer particularly deadly and difficult to treat is that the disease is often diagnosed too late. Tumors in the pancreas often don’t exhibit major symptoms until the cancer has already reached advanced stages. “The primary way to deal with most cancers is to cut them out," said Valerie Lee, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. ”But with pancreatic cancer, only 10 to 20 percent of patients are even eligible for surgery. That leaves chemotherapy, which is not curative. It mainly extends the time you have left."
While doctors and researchers have made tremendous progress with other forms of cancers, pancreatic cancer has remained one of the few for which survival has not improved substantially over the past four decades. Over nearly a quarter-century, the overall cancer mortality rate has fallen 26 percent, resulting in almost 2.4 million fewer deaths than if peak rates had continued. Last year, a new report by the American Cancer Society showed the overall cancer death rate had declined again by 1.
I am proudly a stage 3 survivor for over 17 years!
Praying for you
Praying he is an exception.
LaurenHorsch I lost my mother to it. Pancreatic and Brain cancers are the worst ones. Our prayers go out to alextrebeck .
How about trying something different WP! Instead of doom&gloom how about checking out procedures that have worked around the 🌎. Cuba created vaccine 4 lung cancer. Israel is treating cancers w/ cannibus w/ high survival rates. Get off ur butts & make a diff! We need u!
GcMAF cures pancreatic cancer.
We must pray for a miracle.
Ovarian cancer another one. My mom died in 1979 at the age of 52. The prognosis for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer is still very poor and the treatment options are horrific.
It took my mother 7 days after diagnosis this February having symptoms for less than a week
I agree with others, this is a very distasteful headline and should be changed now. He can hear you.
As long as he does not take chemo, his chances are good. Chemo kills the pancreas and prevents any alternative medical treatments from working.
Yes he can!
Alex Trebek rocks man. I wish him all the best.
Ebonafied My Beloved Father Died at the age of 91 ,6 years ago from Pancreatic Cancer ♋️ I’m Praying for Alex Trebek and his family🙏🏾
Why not just punch the guy in the eye? Christ on a cracker! He has family.
Did you intentionally put a picture of Alex that makes him look like he is finding out about his cancer by reading your headline?
Thanks for the negativity, WAPO. Jerks.
I think there has not been any progress since Patrick Swayze passed away.
Thank you WaPo for never missing an opportunity to make a horrible situation even worse. Do you even have an editorial board? Seriously, not one single person that looks over this kinda stuff and says....”probably not the time to point out the obvious”
usually the life expectancy at that stage is only 6 months. But our time is in God's hand.🤠
But the patriarchy! While almost 100% of females cancers have received markedly more funding and survival rates are 100’s of times higher than pancreatic and prostate cancers. Smh
☹
21 years ago it took my fiancé, he was 35.
My mother was diagnosed Dec 31st 2017 and lived until May...A CT scan found it, she had been in pain radiating to her back for 6 months. Drs kept missing it until it was stage 4. If something feels wrong demand CT scan ASAP.
So sad!
As a nurse and very familiar with pancreatic cancer. This is one of the most severe forms of cancer. Survival rate in stage 4 is not good practically unheard of. I grew older with Alex as did many and feel terrible about this news. God Bless you Alex.
Heartbreaking for it to happen to anyone, let alone an inspirational figure such as Alex Trebek. I hope they at least find a way to diagnose it earlier than stage 3 or 4
He’s a strong man. There’s always a chance. Even if it is small. 🙏
Ruth Bader Ginsburg beat it...There is always hope
It probably won't help but I'm sending Alex my best wishes through Twitter.
one can only pray that his days on the planet are longer than shorter.
Leave it to WaPo....his doctor has advised him....thanks....how many ads did this article sell?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a pancreatic cancer survivor. It’s a nasty one, probably the nastiest.
I had 2 co-workers within the last several years who have died from Pancreatic CANCER. It came on Fast and Furious. I wish him all the best
how likely is the post going to refrain from speculating on a person’s likelihood to die soon?
What is my broken heart?
Prayers Need!!!!
My uncle died within 6 months of diagnosis. USMC Col. in Vietnam war, not in Nam action, but in Nam twice.
So Sad!
It is a major initiative in the labs at John Hopkins Hospital. The key is early detection
Is this info necessary at this time WAPO?
It took my dad within 3 months after diagnosis. That was 18 years ago.
Well Alex just might be that rare survivor. Stop being negative!!
Ugh I hope you beat this, AlexTrebek jeopardy
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