Alex Trebek, who has hosted the “Jeopardy!” game show since 1984, announced Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

“Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working,” Trebek said in a video on Twitter, announcing his illness. “And with the love and support of my family friends, and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease,” according to NPR.com.

Trebek is 78. The risk of pancreatic cancer increases with age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, with almost 70 percent of pancreatic cancer patients being age 65 or older. Trebek has hosted nearly 8,000 episodes of “Jeopardy!” since the show’s revival in its current form in 1984, NPR.com.  

“This is so upsetting. I have no idea how “Jeopardy” is going to come back from this. The show would have to end because I would not watch without [Trebek] hosting,” junior Anna Mitchell.

Last year, Trebek suggested he would retire in 2020, but he ended up renewing his hosting contract through 2022. He joked that that’s the reason why he will survive the disease, in his social media post detailing his illness: “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.”

“This type of cancer is horrible. Not matter what age, what stage, it is a horrible thing for someone to go through. His family is in my thoughts and I hope he can fight it,” senior Abe Powell.

Trebek’s plan at this point is to at least work through and complete the show’s ongoing season, TMZ reported. The season typically runs through the end of July. Trebek has gone online before to get out word about his health. In January 2018, he posted a video announcing he’d undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he’d taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.