Patrick Swayze, the Hollywood actor and star of such films as Dirty Dancing and Ghost, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a spokesman has confirmed.
Patrick Swayze with wife Lisa Niemi. The 55-year-old actor is said to be responding well to treatment
But contrary to reports, the 55-year-old is not "terminally ill" with just weeks to live.
"Actor Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is currently undergoing treatment," Annett Wolf, Swayze's publicist, said in a statement.
"Patrick's physician Dr George Fisher states, 'Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far. All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic'.
The statement continued: "Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects. The outpouring of support and concern he has already received from the public is deeply appreciated by Patrick and his family."
The comments followed earlier reports in the National Enquirer and New York Post that the actor had been diagnosed with the disease more than a month ago.
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The National Enquirer claimed that the cancer had spread to other organs and that Swayze had lost a dramatic amount of weight and had only five weeks to live.
The tabloid also reported that the actor had been travelling to Stanford University's prestigious cancer centre in Palo Alto, near San Francisco, for radical chemotherapy. Dr Fisher is based at the Stanford Cancer Centre.
In early February the New York Post reported that Swayze had recently undergone a "serious gastro-intestinal procedure" at Stanford.
Swayze's mother, dancer and choreographer Patsy Swayze, echoed the doctor's optimism. "I don't really want to talk about it, but I know he's sick," she told E! Entertainment News. "But he has great doctors and a great prognosis, and that's all I can say."
Texas-born Swayze, who is married to the actress Lisa Niemi, is best known for his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the 1987 hit film Dirty Dancing in which he starred opposite Jennifer Grey.
The actor went on to appear alongside Demi Moore in the 1990 romance Ghost, again a massive box office hit that was nominated for an Oscar for best picture.
Pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest of all cancers, is the formation of malignant cancer cells and tumors in the tissues of the pancreas. The average life expectancy for the disease is six to nine months, with only four percent of patients living more than five years.
source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/06/wswayze106.xml
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