James Van Der Beek said he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

The “Dawson’s Creek” star shared a statement about his health update on Instagram on Sunday after first breaking the news to him People.

“‘It’s cancer…’ Every year, approximately 2 billion people worldwide receive this diagnosis,” he wrote. “And I’m one of them.”

He continued to explain his decision to share the news over the weekend.

“There’s no playbook on how to announce these things, but I had planned to talk about it at length with People magazine at some point soon … to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms,” ​​he he continued. “But that plan had to be changed early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid would be reporting the news.”

Van Der Beek wrote that he has “dealt with it privately so far, receiving treatment and attending to my general health with greater attention than ever before.”

Despite the health update, he shared that he feels hopeful for the future and apologized to those in his life who learned the news in the media.

“I’m in a good place and feeling strong,” he wrote. “It was quite an initiation and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready. I apologize to all the people in my life that I had planned to tell me. Nothing about this process took place in my preferred timeline… But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, heading toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention.”

“Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support,” he concluded. – More to come.

In the post, he also shared a video montage of photos of himself, as well as an image of one of his children, set to the song “Autumn Breeze” by Richard LaForge.

ABC News has reached out to his representative for comment.

Colorectal cancer starts in the colon or rectum, often called colon or rectal cancer depending on its location, according to American Cancer Society, who added that most cases start as polyps — growths on the inner lining of these organs — that become more common with age. For this reason, regular colonoscopy screenings can not only help detect colorectal cancer, but can also help prevent it, as a polyp can take up to 10 to 15 years to turn into cancer.

Besides being an actor, Van Der Beek is very much a family man. He is one father of six children, which he shares with his wife, Kimberly.

The actor regularly shares updates of his family on his social media platform.

In an Instagram post Last week, Van Der Beek is pictured dressed in a pirate costume as he shares his favorite Halloween moment with his family.

“Made all my costumes as a kid,” he wrote in the caption. “I didn’t really have a choice. But I liked it. That probably should have been the first warning sign to my parents that I was going to be an actor .”

He continued: “But in a world of SPIRIT HALLOWEEN… my six-year-old was devastated that her angel costume wouldn’t arrive in time for trick-or-treating. After acknowledging the tears, she was given the project to make her own halo, which she worked on for HOURS – wrapping yellow yarn around some garden wire. Focused in a way you might not have thought possible. And the look of pride on her face when she saw the finished project in the mirror was, for me… my favorite Halloween moment. .”

Earlier this year, Van Der Beek shared his proud moment as a father when his daughter Olivia sang Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” on the television show “We Are Family,” which features unknown celebrity relatives doing duets with hidden famous family members.

“I am a very proud father tonight. My firstborn daughter was on ‘We Are Family’ tonight on Fox,” he said in an Instagram video at the time, before sharing behind-the-scenes clips that included sweet moments with Olivia in her first trailer from the set, her rehearsal with producers and Van Der Beek singing along with his daughter while watching the behind-the-scenes stream.

“So proud of my baby girl,” he wrote in the caption. “And I call it that because when I looked at it tonight, all I could see was the newborn in the little house that I couldn’t stop staring at.”

Amidst the diagnosis, Van Der Beek remains active in his career, recently appearing in an episode of “Walker” and will soon star in “Sidelines: The QB and Me,” a Tubi original film premiering Nov. 29.