Tenor Luciano Pavarotti underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer and is "recovering well," his manager said Friday.The 70-year-old singer was preparing to leave New York last week to resume his farewell world concert tour in Britain when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass, Terri Robson said from her London office."Fortunately, the mass was able to be completely removed at surgery," she said in a statement. "Mr. Pavarotti is recovering well and his physicians are encouraged by the physical and emotional resilience of their patient."She told The Associated Press he underwent surgery within the past week at a hospital in New York that she declined to identify.She said he remained hospitalized Friday.As a result of Pavarotti’s treatment, all remaining 2006 concerts have been cancelled, she said. It is anticipated that tour plans will resume in early 2007.Concerts had been scheduled for Finland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal in September.Pavarotti was forced to postpone five June dates because of complications from back surgery. He cancelled eight concerts in April, saying he had been advised not to travel or perform while undergoing back treatment.Because pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, it has one of the worst prognoses of all types of malignancies. Less than four per cent of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis, and most die within a year. Even in the minority of cases where the tumour can be operated on, only about 23 per cent remain cancer free.Robson didn’t say what type of pancreatic cancer Pavarotti had. In 2004, Apple Computer Inc.’s Steve Jobs said he had a less-lethal form of the disease and that doctors had successfully removed his cancerous tumour.
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