Cancer-stricken actor Patrick Swayze has given up medical treatment.
The 56-year-old Dirty Dancing star - who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year - reportedly abandoned chemotherapy and other treatment when doctors told him there was nothing they could do to stop the spread of his disease.
A family friend told the National Enquirer: "There's nothing more doctors can do for him. We are down to the wire and the goal now is to keep Patrick comfortable.
"His condition is inoperable and they have stopped the chemo. He's still losing weight and he's very weak. He's taking morphine. That and the cigarettes seem to keep him functioning throught the pain."
The actor, who recently said he was determined to fight his illness, was admitted to hospital with pneumonia earlier this month. He was released on Jan. 16, but friends say the chest infection left the star weakened.
In a recent interview, Swayze spoke about his prognosis and his hopes for the future.
He said: "I'd say five years is wishful thinking. Two years seems likely if you're going to believe the statistics.
"There's more I want to do. Lots more. I want to last until they find a cure."
BANG! Showbiz
Tags: Patrick-Swayze
Patrick Swayze, in his first television interview since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, said he was scared, angry and "going through hell" and may only have two years to live.
A year after his diagnosis with one of the most deadly forms of cancer, the Dirty Dancing star told TV interviewer Barbara Walters that he already has defied survival rates and reports predicting he should have "been dead a long time ago."
But he acknowledged his time may be short. "I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking. Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."
The American Cancer Society says pancreatic cancer has only a five per cent, five-year survival rate. The majority of patients die within six months.
"You can bet I'm going through hell," Swayze told Walters in the interview to be broadcast on ABC tonight.
"There's a lot of fear here...Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm [asking] why me?" Swayze, 56, told Walters.
But he denied reports he was near death. "Am I dying? Am I giving up? Am I on my death bed? Am I saying goodbye to people? No way."
Swayze said doctors diagnosed stage 4 pancreatic cancer last January, with the cancer already having spread to his liver. The actor and dancer underwent an aggressive course of chemotherapy and treatment with an experimental drug. He then stunned the industry by starting to film a new TV detective series, The Beast, while undergoing treatment and without taking painkillers.
"I think everybody thought I was out of my mind, you know, thinking I'm gonna pull off a TV show," he said of the 12-hour work days, mostly in cold, Chicago night conditions.
"When you're shooting you can't do drugs," Swayze said of his decision not to take painkillers. "I can't do Hydrocodone or Vicodin or these kinds of things that take the edge off of it, 'cause it takes the edge off of your brain."
In five months of filming, Swayze missed a day and a half of work. The Beast starts airing on A&E Jan. 15.
Tags: Patrick-Swayze
