Patrick Swayze has had an "excellent" response to treatment for pancreatic cancer, the actor and his doctor said Tuesday.

"We're thrilled and grateful for the positive response Patrick has shown toward his treatment," the "Dirty Dancing" star and wife Lisa Niemi told People magazine.

"Also, we can't help but feel that all the prayers, meditations and good thoughts sent his way by everyone has made a difference. Thank you!" said the couple.

Dr. George Fisher, Swayze's doctor, told People: "Patrick Swayze continues to respond well to his treatment for pancreatic cancer. Because of his excellent response, he will continue the same therapy at Stanford."

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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