Los Angeles (E! Online) - Patrick Swayze is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer but does not have just weeks to live, the actors 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, Swayzes personal physician, said in a statement. All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue.
Fishers remarks were in rebuttal to the National Enquirer, which broke the news of Swayzes 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 actors reps said, which includes working on upcoming projects.
Speaking to E! News, Swayzes mother, dancer and choreographer Patsy Swayze, echoed the optimism of the stars doctor.
I dont really want to talk about it, but I know hes sick, Patsy Swayze said. But he has great doctors and a great prognosis, and thats all I can say.
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 hed 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 stars fitness on that set.
When we were shooting, the guy looked very young, very healthy, very energetic, Schwartz told E! News.
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.
--Additional reporting by Whitney English
(Originally published Mar. 5, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. PT.)
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