James Van Der Beek: has colon cancer, PEOPLE can confirm.

“I have colon cancer. I’ve been dealing with this diagnosis privately and taking steps to resolve it with the support of my incredible family,” the 47-year-old star tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“There’s reason to be optimistic and I feel good,” Van Der Beek adds.

According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer begins in the colon, or rectum, which is the large intestine of the digestive system.

Despite the diagnosis, Van der Beek has been actively working on his treatment.

He was recently seen in an episode of Walker, and he will next star in Sidelined: The QB and Me, a Tubi movie due out November 29.

Van Der Beek has also devoted a lot of time to his family — his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek and their six children: Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.

In June, the group took a memorable trip to Egypt. In an Instagram post, the Varsity Blues alum shared photos of himself and his family posing with a camel, touring the Egyptian pyramids and more.

“#Egypt… With all my vocabulary, ‘wow’ is what falls out of my mouth most of the time. We were given a magical experience that I’m still processing – and may be for the rest of my life,” Van Der Beek wrote in his caption, among other things. “The kids were rock stars, my friends became brothers, and despite all the traveling, time zone changes and early morning wake-up calls, I feel like I have been recharged”

Later in December, Van Der Beek will appear on The Real Full Monty, a special two-hour show in which a group of male celebrities will strip down to raise awareness for prostate, testicular and colon cancer testing and research.

The star will be joined in the special by fellow actor Taye Diggs, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and longtime “Dancing with the Stars” judge Bruno Tonioli.

The event, which was inspired by the 1997 Oscar-nominated film The Full Monty, is produced by Anthony Anderson.

“Embarrassingly, I thought I was just doing Anthony Anderson a favor and supporting cancer. But then once we got there and really started talking about these issues, everyone opened up and we got to know each other on a different level,” Diggs recently told PEOPLE about the special.

The premiere of The Real Full Monty is set for December 9.