Patrick Swayze, the man who mesmerised us with his moves in the 1987 flick, Dirty Dancing is battling pancreatic cancer.
The American dancer, actor, singer and songwriter who also starred with Om Puri [Images], Shabana Azmi [Images] and Ayesha Dharker in the 1992 film, City of Joy is currently undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, the Daily Telegraph said.
Contrary to reports that the 55-year-old is terminally ill with just weeks to live, the Daily Telegraph quoted Annett Wolf, Swayze's publicist, who in turn quoted Patrick's physician Dr George Fisher as saying, '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'.
Swayze's publicist also stated that 'Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects.'
The comments followed after reports appeared in the National Enquirer and New York Post that the actor's cancer had spread to other organs and that he 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.
Swayze is married to Lisa Niemi. The couple have a daughter, Lisa.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest of all cancers with an average life expectancy of six to nine months.