Alex Trebek, the beloved host of the game show Jeopardy!, made the sad announcement on March 6, 2019 that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On YouTube, he insisted that he was “going to fight this,” despite the dim prognosis for the disease at that stage.
Other famous celebrities have lost their lives to pancreatic cancer in recent years. Some have survived after their diagnosis for some time, however.
Alex Trebek referenced his family, saying, “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.”
What is the survival rate for that diagnosis? Unfortunately, as other celebrities have experienced, the odds aren’t good. The median survival rate is only 3-6 months, although some people defy those odds, of course.
Here’s are some of the celebrities who have been diagnoses with pancreatic cancer:
Michael Landon
American actor Michael Landon.
Beloved House on the Prairie dad Michael Landon died from pancreatic cancer. “I think you have to have a sense of humor about everything,” Landon told reporters when he revealed his diagnosis, according to Cancer Today.
“I don’t find this particularly funny, but if you’re going to try to go on, if you’re going to try to beat something, you’re not going to do it standing in the corner.”
Landon died in July 1991 at the age of 54 from the disease. He had announced he had pancreatic cancer that April. He promised to fight the disease and live every moment, according to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, which reads, “The actor’s condition had deteriorated rapidly since April 8, when he announced that he had inoperable cancer of the liver and pancreas.”
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze.
Patrick Swayze, the Dirty Dancing star, fought pancreatic cancer for 20 months, according to the New York Times, raising attention to the disease. He was 57-years-old when he died.
He dubbed himself a “miracle dude” by living longer than expected, the Times reported. “How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man?” he said, according to The Times. “You go to work.”
Steve Jobs
GettyApple CEO Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs, the genius behind Apple and the iPod, died of pancreatic cancer as well. Jobs was 56-years-old when he died from the disease, costing the world the future inventions he likely would have made.
According to WebMD, Jobs lived longer than others because he had a rare form of the disease. The medical site reveals that he had “an unusual form of pancreatic cancer known as a neuroendocrine tumor or islet cell carcinoma.”
As a result, he tried different treatments that prolonged his life, such as a liver transplant and surgery to get rid of a tumor. He was diagnosed in 2004 and lived until 2011.
Joe Jackson
YouTube/Lailah LynJoe Jackson passed away from terminal cancer on June 27.
The Jackson family patriarch, Joe Jackson, also died from pancreatic cancer. He was 89-years-old when he died of the disease, leaving behind a life and family musical legacy.
Aretha Franklin
GettyDonald Trump added to the chorus of tributes and reactions to Aretha Franklin’s death on social media, calling her a “great woman, with a wonderful gift from God, her voice.”
The “Queen of Soul” was 78-years-old when she died in 2018 of pancreatic cancer. A family statement read: “Franklin’s official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.”
She was in hospice care before her death.
Luciano Pavarotti
NPR reported that Luciano Pavarotti, the great singer, was 71 when he died from complications of pancreatic cancer.
The Pancreatic Action Cancer Network also lists survivors of the disease ranging from Major League Broadcaster Bob Uecker to former U.S. Senator Harry Reid. You can see the full list here.
The site also has a lengthy list of other celebrities who died from pancreatic cancer. They include:
Alan Rickman
Charlotte Rae
Hugh Dane
Jack Benny
Joan Crawford
Juliet Prowse
Marcello Mastroianni
Pete Postlethwaite
Simone Signoret
Sir Rex Harrison
Don Hewitt
Dizzy Gillespie
See the full list here.