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Swayze has a tough road ahead, cancer experts say

March 06, 2008
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Patrick Swayze captured hearts in Dirty Dancing. He also starred in Red Dawn, The Outsiders and Ghost.
 
Although actor Patrick Swayze's publicist has issued a statement saying he is upbeat about his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, experts say the disease is one of the deadliest of all tumors and is usually considered a death sentence.

Only 4% of patients are alive after five years, says Mace Rothenberg, a professor at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 37,680 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease this year and that 34,290 will die of it, making it the fourth-leading cause of cancer death.

The disease is typically a silent killer, producing no symptoms until it has metastasized, or spread around the body, Rothenberg says. It also tends to spread very early.

Patrick Wayne Swayze (born August 18, 1952) is an American dancer, actor, singer and songwriter. His breakthrough role was as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and he also had a hit with the 1990 film Ghost.

Swayze has been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975. The couple have been together since Lisa, at 15, began dance lessons with Swayze's mother.

His father died of a heart attack. Swayze attended a clinic to overcome alcoholism after his sister Vicky passed away. After initial recovery, he retreated to his ranches in California and New Mexico to breed Arabian horses. His best-known horse was the late Tammen, a chestnut Arabian stallion. He also follows several spiritual traditions. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he has also studied Bahá'í, Buddhism, and Scientology.

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