Patrick Swayze is so perplexed by tabloid reports saying he is breathing his last breath and saying goodbye to his family, as his treatment for pancreatic cancer is failing him, that he has called the claims “shoddy and reckless reporting” as well as “emotional cruelty.”

Actor Patrick Swayze revealed to a shocked world earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and would undergo treatment at Stanford University Medical Center, near San Francisco. Just months later, he and his wife of more than three decades, Lisa Niemi, released a statement via People magazine, thanking fans for their support and warm wishes of rapid and safe recovery and revealing that the treatment was efficient.

This summer, the 56-year-old actor began work on a new A&E series, “The Beast,” and all seemed to be well again. He started making public appearances once more and looked quite healthy and luminous in photos.

It is therefore understandable that Swayze is upset with US tabloid reports placing him on his death bed and alleging he is living his last days. The actor issued a statement Tuesday saying he found it upsetting to have such a negative light cast on “the positive and good fight” he is fighting and likened the reports to “emotional cruelty.”

He added that such “lies and false information” anger him “when hope is so precious.” The actor said he was home from the set of “The Beast” for the holidays.

Patrick Swayze became a sensation in the late 1980s, with the release of romance film “Dirty Dancing,” where his character, the sensuous bad boy with a good heart Johnny Castle, famously says, “Nobody puts baby in a corner.” Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role. He also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, “She’s Like the Wind,” which he co-wrote.

The years 1990 and 1991 each brought two more highly successful films for the actor: “Ghost” and “Point Break.” Other recent roles include “Waking Up in Reno,” “Donnie Darko” and a cameo appearance in the Dirty Dancing sequel “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”