In January 1994, less than two years into his stint on "Law & Order", Orbach was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He initially received radiation therapy as treatment, but by December 1994, the cancer had returned and metastasized. At that point, he went on hormone therapy, on which he remained over the next decade while he continued to star on "Law & Order". Following his departure from the series at the end of the 2003-04 season, Orbach underwent chemotherapy, but he ultimately succumbed to his cancer on December 28, 2004, at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York at age 69. Despite being diagnosed with the cancer more than a decade before his death, Orbach's illness was not revealed to the general public until just weeks before he died. Prior to his death, Orbach was signed to continue in the role of Lennie Briscoe on the new spin-off "", which was to accommodate his illness by giving him a lighter schedule than he had had on the original series, but he was only featured in the first two episodes, both of which aired following his death.