Alex Trebek has stage 4 pancreatic cancer

This is one answer no one wanted to hear.

Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek learned this week he has stage four pancreatic cancer, he announced in a video message on Wednesday. "Normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging," Trebek acknowledged, but he didn't leave viewers on a sour note.

Trebek acknowledged that he joins about "50,000 people in the United States" diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. "But I'm going to fight this," Trebek continued, pledging to "beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease." After all, "under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years," he joked.

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Pancreatic cancer is known for its particularly dismal survival rates, so Trebek is counting viewers' "prayers" and "faith" to ensure this isn't his final Jeopardy!.