James Van Der Beek has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a spokesperson for the actor confirmed.
The 47-year-old actor, known for his role in the teen drama series “Dawson’s Creek,” told People he had been “privately dealing with this diagnosis” and was taking steps to address it.
“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” Van Der Beek said.
In the past 30 years or so, cancer rates overall have been declining, but there’s been a 2% increase per year in colorectal cancer among people under the age of 55, according to a study published last year.
In 2023, roughly 153,020 people nationally are projected to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, with 52,550 dying from the disease, including 19,550 cases and 3,750 deaths in people under the age of 50, according to the study, which is done every three years.
In Georgia, the incidence of colon cancer between 2015 and 2019 was 39 of every 100,000 residents; 38 non-Hispanic whites; 44 non-Hispanic Black people; and 36 Hispanics.
“This is a global trend,” Dr. Karthi Subbannan, who specializes in oncology and hematology at Northside Hospital, told AJC reporter Shelia Poole. “It’s not anything that’s just here in the U.S. or just in recent years.”
In “Dawson’s Creek,” the actor played the soap’s title character, an aspiring filmmaker who was initially aloof to his female best friend’s romantic feelings toward him.
The actor is also known for playing a meta-version of himself in “Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23,” where he’s a smarmy has-been nicknamed “The Beek From the Creek.”
“The ego certainly is the biggest obstacle as an artist or performer, so any chance you get to destroy that is really healthy,” he told the Times in 2012.
His upcoming projects include the Tubi romance movie “Sidelined: The QB and Me” and “The Real Full Monty,” a TV special where Van Der Beek and other celebrities will participate in a strip tease to bring awareness to prostate, testicular and colorectal cancer testing and research.
