ROME - Luciano Pavarotti is "fighting like a lion" against his pancreatic cancer and is reacting well to radiotherapy, his wife told an Italian newspaper.
"I can now say he is doing well," Nicoletta Mantovani said in an interview published Wednesday in the Italian daily La Stampa.
The 71-year-old opera star underwent surgery after doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass last year.
"He's reacting well to a fifth cycle of radiotherapy. He's fighting like a lion and he has never lost his heart, also because a family he adores is by his side," Mantovani said.
"He's determined and results are encouraging," she said. "Despite the heavy treatment he has not lost weight -- which by the way he would have liked -- or his hair."
Mantovani spoke from the Italian resort island of Ischia, where she picked up a music award for her husband.
Earlier this month, Diva e Donna, an Italian women's magazine, quoted one of Pavarotti's daughters, Giuliana, as saying her father "knows he will die soon." Mantovani said the quotes were taken out of context.
Last week, Pavarotti's manager said the famed tenor was teaching and working on a recording of sacred music. According to Mantovani, he is also considering resuming the "Pavarotti and Friends" benefit concert that used to take place annually in his hometown of Modena, Italy.
