Sydney (ANI): Patrick Swayze's doctor has denied reports that the actor has only weeks to live, after it was revealed that he is suffering from pancreatic cancer. The news that the Dirty Dancing star is suffering from the aggressive form of cancer was broken by US tabloid the National Enquirer, which also stated that Swayze had only weeks to live.

However, in a release to TMZ.com by an unnamed publicist for Swayze, his physician, Dr George Fisher has insisted it is "absolutely untrue" that he is weeks away from death.

"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," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dr Fisher, as telling TMZ.com. The release also stated that Swayze was continuing his normal schedule, which included working on upcoming projects.

The National Enquirer had claimed that the actor had been diagnosed in late January, and had been flying his private Beechcraft aeroplane to Stanford University's cancer centre in Palo Alto, California, for radical chemotherapy.

However, the tabloid claimed that three doses of chemotherapy had failed to significantly shrink the tumour, and doctors had told Swayze to prepare for the end.