Eight months since Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the actor is speaking out about the treatment and how his work has helped him get through the pains of chemotherapy in his first formal interview with the New York Times.  

"How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man?" said the "Dirty Dancing" star, who confirmed he was battling pancreatic cancer at the beginning of 2008. "You go to work."

Since then, the 56-year-old actor has undergone treatment for the disease and resumed his acting career, starring in U.S. TV show "The Beast," which is about halfway through its 12-episode order.

"I do find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face," Swayze, who started shooting the drama series in Chicago this summer, said. "I’m proud of what I’m doing."  His determination showed as the actor only missed a day and a half of filming so far. "The Beast" debuts this January and tells the story of an unorthodox FBI vet, played by Swayze, training his new partner, all the while being pursued by a secret Internal Affairs team.

Although he sounds very hopeful, Swayze doesn't actually say he's beat cancer but he has been responding well to treatment and chemotherapy, which he called "hell on wheels, no matter how you cut it," and has also managed to put on 20 pounds by having plenty "muscle-building shakes."

"I just love to work hard," the actor said. "I’m still fine to work, I haven’t changed — oh, I have changed, what am I saying? It’s a battle zone I go through. Chemo, no matter how you cut it, is hell on wheels."

Before his diagnosis, the actor said he thought he was suffering from a persistent case of indigestion while filming the show's pilot in December, "Then all of a sudden real symptoms start showing up," he told the Times. "You see it in the mirror and you go: 'O.K., better go get checked out.'" Experts say pancreatic cancer only has a 5 percent five-year survival rate.

Towards the end of his interview, Swayze's employer, Zack Van Amburg says that his doctors are encouraging, but "they have never said he’s cured."

"There is probably that little bird that flies through your insides and says, ‘I sure would like to make a mark in life,’ " Mr. Swayze said. "I’ve made a pretty decent mark so far — nothing to scoff at. But it does make you think: Wait a minute. There’s more I want to do. Lots more. Get on with it."

Obviously, if Swayze is able to work 12-hour days during his recovery, something that many of us can barely manage when we are completely healthy, he must be doing very well indeed. Besides work, the actor found support in his wife of 33 years, Lisa Niemi.