James Van Der Beek Diagnosed With Colorectal Cancer

Dawson’s Creek and Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 star James Van Der Beek has told People that he was recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer. “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” he said. Van Der Beek said he received the diagnosis and since has “been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family.” According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer, with 106,590 new cases of colon cancer and 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer every year.

On Instagram, Van Der Beek said he was forced to share his health status before he was ready. “There’s no playbook for how announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms,” he wrote. “But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.” Van Der Beek then apologized to those he’d wanted to tell in person for having to find out via People. “Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline,” he wrote. “But we roll with it.”

While receiving treatment, Van Der Beek is still working. The actor is set to appear in The Real Full Monty in December. It is a two-hour special in which male celebs with strip to raise awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research. Stars scheduled to appear in The Real Full Monty include Van Der Beek, Taye Diggs, and Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli.

This post has been updated.