Has Patrick Swayze’s Cancer Spread?

Updated 8:00 PM EST, Wed, Jan 14, 2009

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Patrick Swayze checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last Friday for pneumonia, but has the actor’s cancer now spread to his lungs?

“I am alive and plan on continuing to stay that way.” Patrick told People in his first words since checking into the hospital last week. In the interview, Swayze downplayed the severity of this latest medical setback.

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“I don’t plan on being in the hospital long,” he continued. “I am almost in the clear now.”

Patrick said a persistent cough lead him to call his doctor who told him to go to the hospital on January 9.

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People Senior Editor Peter Castro told Access Hollywood that Patrick is responding positively to treatment.

“He’s being treated with antibiotics,” Peter told Access. “He’s doing a lot better and he thinks that he’ll be out of the woods pretty soon with the pneumonia.”

Though “The Beast” star says he’s almost “in the clear,” The National Enquirer paints a very different picture, reporting that Patrick is in the hospital because his cancer has spread to his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe, according to a source. The source goes on to claim that he has a less than 10 percent chance of recovery.

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According to The Enquirer, the actor had an operation shortly after his Barbara Walters interview to bypass a stomach blockage, but his condition allegedly continued to worsen.

The mag quotes a source, who claims he saw Patrick just a day before he checked into the hospital, who said, “this is by far the sickest he’s been.”

Patrick’s “Beast” executive producer John Romano, recently said the actor looks wonderful in his new series, which premiers this coming Thursday on A&E.

“People tuning in to see, you know, whether this thing has affected his looks will be very disappointed, he looks great,” Romano said. “He really should be the poster boy for the kind of battle he’s fighting.”

As for “The Beast’s” future? Romano said they are taking their cues from Patrick and that it’s full speed ahead.

“Will we ever have to re-think it? Well, we all know what cancer is,” Romano said.

“Maybe that’s something… the time will come. [But,]At this point we’re counting on a second season with Patrick Swayze.”

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