"Spartacus" may draw to a close on Starz following the cancer relapse of star Andy Whitfield, reports EW.com’s The Ausiello Files, citing an interview with executive producer Steven S. DeKnight.

“The two main options are to close up shop or recast," DeKnight says. “I want to talk to Andy and find out how he feels about the options. That’s obviously very important to us."

As previously reported, Whitfield said he won’t be returning to the show because he’s battling cancer again, after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

DeKnight says that it will be "a little while" until a decision is made, adding, "We’re still absorbing what’s happened." A prequel to the series will air in Jan. 2011.