Television host Dr. Mehmet Oz is praising Alex Trebek as an “incredible fighter” amid the longtime Jeopardy! host’s ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer. Speaking on Fox & Friends Thursday, Oz revealed that he had visited Trebek just a few weeks ago, around the time the game show host revealed he would have to undergo further chemotherapy, and updated fans on his health.
“He’s an incredible fighter and a great American, who’s Canadian. … He’s a strong man and I think he’s doing much better than I would do,” Oz said, noting that Trebek is dealing with several chemotherapy side affects, such as mouth ulcers.
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Trebek, who has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984, had opened up about the negative side effects of his treatment when speaking with CTV News’ Lisa LaFlamme early last month, revealing that chemotherapy had begun to impact his hosting abilities.
“I’m sure there are observant members of the television audience that notice also, but they’re forgiving,” he said, explaining that the mouth ulcers can make it difficult for him to enunciate his words. “But there will come a point when they (fans and producers) will no longer be able to say, ‘It’s ok.’ I will keep doing it as long as my skills do not diminish, and they have started to diminish.”
Speaking on Fox & Friends, Oz went on to encourage viewers to learn the “signs and symptoms” of pancreatic cancer before it’s too late, something that Trebek is also advocating for in a recently released PSA.
“The bigger issue here is that folks, when they do get diagnosed, often don’t get aggressively treated,” Oz said. “Pancreatic cancer, like all cancer, hides from you and hides at a really bad place; right in the middle of your body where you can’t tell it’s there.”
In his PSA, shared to the World Pancreatic Cancer Day YouTube page on Tuesday, Trebek opened up about the symptoms he had experienced and initially overlooked prior to his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
“I wished I had known sooner that the persistent stomach pain I experienced prior to my diagnosis was a symptom of pancreatic cancer,” he said. “Other common symptoms can include mid-back pain, unexplained weight loss, new onset diabetes and the yellowing of the skin or eyes.”
Trebek had announced his diagnosis in March of this year, revealing in May that his tumors had “shrunk by more than 50 percent” and that he was in “near remission.” Despite announcing in September that he would have to undergo further chemotherapy, Trebek has promised to continue hosting Jeopardy! for as long as he can.
