James Van Der Beek Gives Cancer Treatment Update

James Van Der Beek is sharing an update on his cancer journey after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023.

“I’m just on the journey. … It’s a process,” the Dawson’s Creek alum, 48, told TODAY.com Wednesday, adding, “It’ll probably be a process for the rest of my life.”

Van Der Beek noted that living with Stage 3 cancer has been a “full-time job,” as he’s been doing everything from stretching more and taking up yoga to trying out the keto diet and finding “the beauty of just taking things a little bit more slowly and prioritizing rest and really allowing that to be the job.”

The actor, who announced his diagnosis last year, told the outlet that he had gotten screened for colon cancer at age 46, and while he thought he was “way ahead of the game,” he didn’t realize the American Cancer Society had lowered the screening age for people of average risk to 45.

“Even just the slightest little change, it could be something, but … don’t think that not having symptoms means you don’t have to get screened, especially for something that is this curable when caught early,” he explained, encouraging people to get screened for colon cancer themselves. “That’s really what I want to get across.”

“I ate as well as I could. I was healthy. I was in amazing cardiovascular shape,” the actor added. “There was no reason in my mind that I should have gotten a positive diagnosis.”

Despite his diagnosis, Van Der Beek has continued to work in Hollywood, starring in the upcoming series Elle. “The greatest thing about work is cancer doesn’t exist between action and cut,” he said of returning to set. “It was fun to drop in and just have a blast because it’s such a great cast, a great production, and everybody out there is really talented.”

The Dancing With the Stars alum also finds joy in hearing how his own cancer journey may have helped others. “Guys I see at the gas station, people come up to me at a coffee shop, I appreciate it every time,” he said. “That’s been stuff that really makes me cry. When people say, ‘I got checked, I got a colonoscopy, I got a polyp removed,’ … just to save somebody that journey.”