Back in January, Swayze gave an exclusive interview with Barbara Walters about his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He had been diagnosed with the disease back in January 2008.

"You can bet that I'm going through Hell," Swayze recently told Walters. "And I've only seen the beginning of it. There's a lot of fear here. There's a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm asking, 'Why me?'"

Swayze will also be remembered for starring in Ghost as well as most recently A&E's cop drama The Beast. He leaves behind his wife since 1975, Lisa Niemi.

His rep said, "I am happy to announce that Patrick Swayze is home after a brief hospitalization for pneumonia."

The 56-year-old actor checked himself into the hospital on Jan. 9, canceling his appearance at the Television Critics Association press event to promote his new A&E series, The Beast, which premiered Jan. 15

Swayze appeared on television this week, giving an exclusive interview with Barbara Walters about his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Swayze was scheduled to join his fellow co-star and producers in presenting A&E's new drama The Beast to critics, which he stars in. After realizing he would be too ill to make it, according to A&E reps, Patrick asked that the show go on and that they pass along a message from him about how "unbelievably proud" he is of the work they've done so far on the show.

"You can bet that I'm going through Hell," Swayze recently told Walters. "And I've only seen the beginning of it. There's a lot of fear here. There's a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm asking, 'Why me?'"

"You can bet that I'm going through Hell," Swayze said in his first TV interview on the subject. "And I've only seen the beginning of it. There's a lot of fear here. There's a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm asking, 'Why me?'"

The 56-year-old actor, best known for his roles on Dirty Dancing and Ghost, realized there was something wrong when he suddenly dropped twenty pounds.

"And then when you see it in the mirror, when all of a sudden, you pull your eyes down and the bottom of your eyes go yellow and jaundice sets in – then you know something's wrong," Swayze said.

Doctors ran tests and found that Swayze had a malignant tumor in his pancreas that had spread to his liver. Most patients with this condition lived less than six months.

"One thing I'm not gonna do is chase staying alive," Swayze said. "You spend so much time chasing staying alive, you won't live."

After the diagnosis, Swayze accepted the role as an undercover FBI agent in The Beast, filming during the week, then flying to L.A. for chemotherapy on the weekends.

"I did find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face. I'm proud of what I'm doing. There's more I want to do. Lots more. So I'd better get on with it."

Patrick Swayze is reportedly responding well to treatment. (AP Images)

Actor Patrick Swayze was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. However, Swayze’s doctors, who claim the treatment is working well, have reported a hopeful new development and that Swayze's response to the treatment has been "excellent."

Swayze's physician said that Patrick: "continues to respond well to his treatment for pancreatic cancer. Because of his excellent response, he will continue the same therapy at Stanford."

Patrick and his wife told People, "We're thrilled and grateful for the positive response Patrick has shown towards his treatment. Also, we can't help but feel that all the prayers, meditations and good thoughts sent his way by everyone has made a difference. Thank you!"