Swayze Battling Cancer
By Joal Ryan
Patrick Swayze is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer but does not have just weeks to live, the actor's reps and doctor said Wednesday.
"Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment so far," Dr. George Fisher, Swayze's personal physician, said in a statement. "All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue."
Fisher's remarks were in rebuttal to the National Enquirer, which broke the news of Swayze's illness on its website and said the Dirty Dancing star had recently dropped 20 pounds and been given only five weeks to live.
"Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time," the actor's reps said, "which includes working on upcoming projects."
Speaking to E! News, Swayze's mother, dancer and choreographer Patsy Swayze, echoed the optimism of the star's doctor.
"I don't really want to talk about it, but I know he's sick," Patsy Swayze said. "But he has great doctors and a great prognosis, and that's all I can say."
According to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancreatic cancer is the deadliest of the leading cancers. Fewer than 5 percent of patients live more than five years after diagnosis.
Swayze, 55, was recently cast as a gay cheerleading instructor in Fired Up, a big-screen comedy that began shooting last month.
As recently as Monday, Swayze was spotted running an errand at a Simi Valley, California, dance studio. An employee there told E! News the actor "looked good" and not at all as if he'd lost a lot of weight.
Producer Bobby Schwartz, who worked with Swayze last summer on the as yet unreleased indie drama Powder Blue, likewise vouched for the star's fitness on that set.
"When we were shooting, the guy looked very young, very healthy, very energetic," Schwartz told E! News.
He also filmed an A&E pilot in December called The Beast, in which he stars as an unconventional, undercover FBI agent. The network said Wednesday it was still considering the show for pickup next season.
Swayze is best known for a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s that included Ghost, Point Break, Road House and the career-changer, Dirty Dancing, in which he played Catskills bad boy Johnny Castle.
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