I was surprised to learn a few months ago that actor Patrick Swayze has pancreatic cancer. Something about the whole thing didn't seem right, because he is fairly young (55 years old) and always seemed to keep himself in shape.
I did a little digging and found that smoking is a dominant factor in early-onset pancreatic cancer. In this study last year, over 50% of the cases of early-onset pancreatic cancer could be attributed to smoking.
From what the media reports say (if they can be trusted to be accurate), Swayze was and still may be a very heavy smoker. So if this is true, it might explain why he was afflicted with this cancer at a younger age.
At any rate, it's a sad story and I hope he can reclaim his health.
