Patrick Swayze who thrilled and had pulses soaring in Dirty Dancing has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and according to shocking US report he only has 5 weeks to live.
The actor, 55, was reportedly diagnosed in late January with pancreatic cancer that has spread to other organs.
For the past month, the actor and dancer has been traveling to Stanford University's prestigious cancer center in Palo Alto for radical chemotherapy, but his doctors are no longer optimistic that the treatments will be successful, this according to one tabloid report.
Swayze who has previously attended a clinic to overcome alcoholism after his sister Vicky died from an overdose of painkillers in 1994 received three doses of chemotherapy and the tumor shrank, but less than his doctors had hoped for and Patrick was told he should prepare for the end
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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.