鈥淛eopardy!鈥� host Alex Trebek says 鈥減ositive energy鈥� from fans may have played a role in what doctors have called the 鈥渘ear remission鈥� of his stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The 78-year-old revealed the news in a cover story Wednesday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of mind-boggling,鈥� he said, adding that some of his tumours have shrunk 鈥渂y more than 50 per cent.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e got a couple million people out there who have expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy directed towards me and their prayers,鈥� he told People. 鈥淚 told the doctors, this has to be more than just the chemo, and they agreed it could very well be an important part of this.鈥�

Pancreatic cancer has a low survival rate, but doctors told the longtime game show host that he has been responding extremely well to chemotherapy.

鈥淭he doctors said they hadn鈥檛 seen this kind of positive result in their memory,鈥� he said.

He will still undergo several more rounds of chemotherapy in hopes that he will enter full remission, according to the magazine. The 鈥淛eopardy!鈥� host has been candid in recent months about the 鈥�deep sadness鈥� he felt after his diagnosis, but the recent good news left him emotionally upbeat.

鈥淭hey were tears of joy, not tears of depression,鈥� he told People.

In a sit-down interview with CTV National News鈥� Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme earlier this month, Trebek expressed a determination to fight the disease. When he announced his diagnosis in March, he said he intended to keep working.

鈥淭his is what I've been dealt, and I will face it as best I can,鈥� he told LaFlamme. 鈥淭he outcome to a great extent is out of my hands, but to a certain extent, it's within my realm also, because by having a positive attitude, I can affect whether I will succeed in overcoming the statistics regarding pancreatic cancer.鈥�