Patrick Swayze, star of Dirty Dancing and Ghost, today announced that he is receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer after being diagnosed with the disease more than a month ago. A statement released by his publicist states that “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.”

Pancreatic cancer is among the most serious of cancer types, as it is often undetected until the cancer has already spread to other organs. Prognosis of the disease is generally poor, with few victims still alive five years after the disgnosis. The average survival rate after diagnosis is 3 to 6 months.