‘Jeopardy!’ Host Alex Trebek Reveals Cancer Diagnosis: ‘I’m Going to Fight This’ — Watch

Alex Trebek has dedicated his career with “Jeopardy!” disseminating information, and in this same vein decided to share his cancer diagnosis with fans through a video message on Wednesday. The host said that it was part of his “longtime policy of being open and transparent.”

In the video, the 78-year-old Trebek, sans mustache, looks healthy as reveals that like “50,000 other people in the United States.” Here’s his full message to fans:

Hey 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! fan base. 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 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.

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.

Watch the video of the announcement below:

A Message from Alex Trebek: pic.twitter.com/LbxcIyeTCF

— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) March 6, 2019

“Jeopardy!” has undergone many changes and hosts since its inception in 1964, but Trebek has served as host of the trivia game show since it went into daily syndication in 1984. The Canadian-American holds the Guinness World Record for the most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter/same program.