Patrick Swayze's pancreatic cancer is clearly exacting a heavy toll on the ailing star.



A rail thin Swayze, now virtually bald having lost his hair as a result of treatment, looked a shadow of his former self during an outing in Los Angeles.

With his clothes hanging from his reduced frame, the actor was barely recognisable as he walked to his car.



The 56-year-old edged along the roadside, gripping hold of a nearby post for support as his brother Don waited in a car park to take him to an appointment.

Frail: Actor Patrick Swayze was seen in Los Angeles looking startlingly frail, having lost weight and his hair as cancer takes its toll on the Ghost star



US magazine The National Enquirer said the Dirty Dancing star's weight had dropped to just 7st 5lbs (47.6 kilos).



However, friend and actress Whoopi Goldberg said: 'You know what, he’s doing what everybody else is doing, he’s taking it one day at a time.

'He does not have an expiration date on his backside - none of us do. We just know at some point it’s going to happen and that’s how he’s looking at it,' she added.

A year on from being diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, Swayze recently admitted that he may have only two years to live.

Support: Frail Swayze, who is reported to weight just 7st 5lb, held onto a post for support as he made his way to his car



In his first TV interview since being diagnosed, the Dirty Dancing star told U.S. TV host Barbara Walters that he was 'scared and angry' and had been 'going through hell'.

Swayze said: 'Five years is pretty wishful thinking.

'Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it.'

Swayze's public appearance came as the fate of his television show The Beast remains uncertain.

The Ghost star went public with his illness a year ago. Soon after, he signed on to shoot television show The Beast on location in Chicago.

Swayze threw himself into the physically demanding role of Barker, an undercover agent teamed up with rookie Ellis Dove (played by Travis Fimmel).

Despite the 12-hour-day shooting schedule, he worked without painkillers, taking chemotherapy at weekends.

Golden years: Swayze hit the big time in 1987 when he starred as a dance instructor in 'Dirty Dancing'

But it has attracted low ratings and is unlikely to return for a second season. A show source said Swayze's rapidly declining health would be a deciding factor.

The series arrived on a wave of publicity mainly driven by the grim prognosis and exaggerated accounts that he was near death.

'As has been the case from day one, it is all about Patrick - in a lot of ways, said a show source.

'It is about his condition, and when and whether he would be up for another gruelling production schedule.'

The actor has been married to wife and former dancer Lisa Niemi, 53, for 33 years.

