Why Alex Trebek’s Form of Pancreatic Cancer Has a Low Survival Rate

Prevention.com recently interviewed Dr. Anton Bilchik about the shocking revelation that long-time Jeopardy host, Alex Trebek, has stage-4 pancreatic cancer. Below are snippets from the article.

The Severity of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease. About 56,770 people are estimated to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year and about 45,750 people are expected to die of the disease, the ACS says. “As a whole, pancreatic cancer is considered one of the most deadly cancers,” says Anton Bilchik, MD, PhD, professor of surgery and chief of gastrointestinal research at John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. “Stage 4 pancreatic cancer is pretty much incurable.”

What Causes Pancreatic Cancer

For most people with pancreatic cancer, there’s no known cause, Dr. Bilchik says. However, there does seem to be higher rates of pancreatic cancer in people who are smokers, those who are obese, and people with diabetes, he says. A small percentage of patients have a family history of the disease.

Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer

“The reason that pancreatic cancer is such a deadly disease is that, in most cases, by the time people present with symptoms, the cancer has already spread,” Dr. Bilchik says. “It’s very unusual for it to be detected at an early stage.”

When pancreatic cancer is detected at an early stage, it’s usually by accident. “Usually, someone has a CT scan for another reason, like a scan of the kidneys to look for kidney stones and something is seen in the pancreas,” Dr. Bilchik says.

How is Pancreatic Cancer Treated?

“Up until recently there were only one or two chemotherapy drugs that were shown to be effective,” Dr. Bilchik says. “Now there are a combination of chemotherapy drugs that are shown to prolong people’s lives by weeks or months.”

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot doctors can do to help when someone has advanced pancreatic cancer. “Best case scenario, people with stage 4 pancreatic cancer are expected to survive less than 12 months,” Dr. Bilchik says. “Any person surviving five years is considered extremely rare.”

For additional details, please read the full article at Prevention.com.

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