( CNN ) -- Actor Patrick Swayze 's achievements include several feature films such as `` Dirty Dancing '' and `` Ghost , '' as well as living with advanced pancreatic cancer for longer than most patients . Patrick Swayze died at age 57 of pancreatic cancer . He fought the disease for nearly two years . That Swayze , who died Monday at age 57 , survived nearly two years with the condition is `` quite an accomplishment , '' Dr. George Fisher , an oncologist who treated the star at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics , told CNN 's Larry King on Tuesday . Fisher revealed in early March 2008 that the actor was fighting pancreatic cancer . Swayze participated in a clinical trial at Stanford and took an experimental drug there , Fisher said . Fewer than one in four patients who have the disease that has spread outside the pancreas , as Swayze did , are alive a year later , he said . Watch Fisher talk to King about Swayze 's case » . `` Patients can survive two years -- even longer , even with standard treatment , '' Fisher said . `` It 's just sad that not as many do . '' Pancreatic cancer has affected several other prominent figures , including National Collegiate Athletic Association President Myles Brand , who died of the disease Wednesday . Apple Inc. 's Steve Jobs and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have also undergone treatment for the disease . The American Cancer Society puts pancreatic cancer as the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in the United States . Lung , colon and breast cancer are the first three . Experts say that about 95 percent of those with pancreatic cancer die from the disease . Symptoms such as abdominal pain , jaundice or sudden weight loss may lead doctors to look for pancreatic cancer , said Dr. Steven Cohen , acting chief for gastrointestinal medical oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Cohen was not involved in Swayze 's care . Doctors say early detection carries a better chance of curing the cancer , but often a patient 's disease is diagnosed after it has spread . CAT scans may detect the disease early , but that does not mean everyone should have a scan with their physical , Fisher said . `` We 're developing algorithms for trying to identify people at risk , and then less invasive ... tests to try to figure out who 's got it and who does n't , '' he said . Despite his illness , Swayze went forward with plans to star in A & E network 's `` The Beast . '' After the actor responded well to cancer treatment , the network agreed to shoot an entire season of the show . Working on the show while undergoing treatment was `` a great idea , '' Fisher said on `` Larry King Live . '' `` I had my doubts as to whether he could actually do it or not , and we had many conversations around that fact , '' Fisher said . Swayze understood `` how difficult the treatment could be , and he understood how difficult the disease could be . But it 's just like Patrick to just say he 's going to do it and damn it , nobody should get in his way . '' `` The Beast '' was canceled in June because of Swayze 's illness , after doctors told him the cancer had spread to his liver . For pancreatic cancer patients , doctors are not as concerned with what happens with the pancreas as they are with how the disease spreads elsewhere , often to the liver or abdominal cavity , Cohen said . Failure of other organs that the cancer affects may ultimately cause death . Swayze 's participation in the Stanford clinical trial is an important take-away point , Cohen said . Only about 5 percent of cancer patients participate in clinical trials , he said . `` Particularly for a disease like pancreatic cancer , where the standard treatments help some patients but not the majority , the ability to look at new treatments that are promising in the context and controlled setting of clinical trials , I think , is really important , '' he said . Dozens of drugs are in development or being tested in trials for pancreatic cancer , Cohen said . One such medication is paclitaxel , which is currently only approved for breast cancer but has shown promise experimentally in pancreatic tumors , he said . Cohen said he and his colleagues encourage patients to continue their daily activities and live their lives normally as best they can while undergoing treatment . A chemotherapy drug commonly used in patients , called gemcitabine , does not have the harsh symptoms of nausea , vomiting and hair loss seen in other cancer drugs . But sometimes , patients are too ill from their underlying cancer to do much , he said . `` Toward the end , they can get increasing abdominal pain , nausea , loss of appetite , very low energy , sort of a wasting syndrome , and there , a lot of patients just do n't feel up to do anything , '' he said .
Patrick Swayze battled pancreatic cancer for nearly two years . The actor died on February 11, 2009 at the age of 50 after battling a rare form of cancer. Dozens of drugs are in development or being tested in trials for the disease . Doctors encourage patients to try to live their lives normally while in treatment .