Heartbreaking! Alex Trebek, the longtime host of the iconic game show Jeopardy!, has revealed that he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The 78-year-old took to YouTube to share the sad news with all his fans and followers in a short video posted on Wednesday, March 6. “Hi, 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,” the iconic TV personality said on the clip. “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.”

Alex Trebek
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“Now, just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” he continued. “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.”

No word yet on whether Alex will continue to work on the game show for future seasons, but he did recently reveal how he would want to share the news of his departure from the show he’s hosted for more than 30 years. “Yeah, I’ll just go to the director and say, ‘Leave me 30 seconds at the end of the show.’ I’ll thank the audience for their support over the many years, and hopefully it’ll be more than 35,” Alex said on Live! With Kelly and Ryan in late February. “And then I will say, ‘And now ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce my replacement as the host of Jeopardy!, Ryan Seacrest.”

We wish Alex nothing but the best in his battle!