Patrick Swayze Says He Is Responding Well to Cancer Treatments

Patrick Swayze is responding well to treatment of pancreatic cancer, he told People in an exclusive statement posted on its Web site.

"Thought I'd give you guys a little update. Lisa and I have been back and forth from New Mexico enjoying the arrival of spring and new baby calves," the "Dirty Dancing" star said in the statement.

"This past weekend, we spent a fun time with friends in Reno for Lisa's birthday, where I took her jewelry shopping at Kenny G & Company and [we] were able to find her something really special and much deserved! In the meantime, I am continuing treatment at Stanford and the great news is I continue to respond well."

Last weekend Swayze and his wife of 32 years, Lisa Niemi, attended an NBA playoff game in Los Angeles between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.

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Swayze, 55, announced last month he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has been undergoing chemotherapy but not radiation treatment, his rep told People.

Caught in its advanced stages, pancreatic cancer, which strikes about 30,000 people a year, has a less than 5 percent survival rate for five years. If caught early and treated aggressively with surgery and chemotherapy — and if the cancer has not spread to lymph nodes — the five-year survival rate can go as high as 17 to 25 percent, said Avram Cooperman, surgical director for the Pancreas and Biliary Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan.

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