'Jeopardy' host Alex Trebek reveals pancreatic cancer diagnosis
"Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek announced Wednesday that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. According to Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the disease has the highest mortality rate of all cancers with a 9 percent survival rate.
Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel explained the issues with detecting the disease.
“Not yet but we’re working on a field called proteomics where we’re going to find proteins in the blood that tell us early,” Dr. Siegel told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Thursday when asked about early detection of the disease early.
“Now I can pick it up on a cat scan, but I can’t do cat scans on everybody,” he added.
Dr. Siegel also noted factors that can make someone more prone to pancreatic cancer.
“If you have a family history, if you’re a smoker, if you’re male, if you’re more elderly, if you’re a drinker, if you have diabetes, those are risk factors."
The doctor also discussed Johnson and Johnson’s new nasal spray to treat depression. The ketamine-based drug, Spravato, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but there are many concerns regarding how the drug may be used.
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Dr. Siegel stated that despite some concerns, it is a positive accomplishment for the medical community.
“It’s a street drug, it’s been used for date rape …. But it’s very promising for the treatment of depression.”
