Pavarotti undergoes cancer surgery

Luciano Pavarotti, the tenor of his times to opera buffs and a celebrity whose personality captivated even casual fans, was recovering Friday from surgery for pancreatic cancer.

His manager said he remained hospitalized in New York on Friday but was recovering well, and two cancer experts said surgery offered improved odds for survival.

The 70-year-old Italian singer was preparing to leave New York last week to resume a concert tour when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass, manager Terri Robson said from her London office. All his remaining 2006 concerts have been canceled.

“Fortunately, the mass was able to be completely removed at surgery,” she said, adding that “his physicians are encouraged by the physical and emotional resilience of their patient.”

Because pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, it has one of the worst prognoses of all types of malignancies. Fewer than 4% of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis, and the majority die within a year.

But when the cancer is contained and can be surgically removed, as was Pavarotti’s, “that means he has a chance for long-term survival,” said Dr. Dan Laheru, an oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.