The 70-year-old classical music icon Luciano Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer few days after he underwent his regular check-up in an undisclosed hospital in New York City. The results of his medical tests prompted his doctor to carry out an “emergency surgery” but he is recuperating now, according to his manager in statement released last Friday.

Pavarotti was supposed to go to Great Britain for a series of concerts, which are part of his farewell world tour, after his regular check-up but due to his condition, the remaining concerts have to be postponed probably until early party of 2007, if his doctors permit it. Also, due to his surgery, Pavarotti wasn’t able to go to Berlin for a performance just in time with the World Cup Final match between his native country Italy and France (by the way, he loves soccer a lot). Although the doctors were able to totally remove the malignant mass found in his pancreas and although Pavarotti shows positive signs of recovering fast, he needs complete rest.

According to specialists, survival rate of those who have successfully undergone surgery is pretty high, but about 75% of them may experience a relapse. Well, let’s just hope Pavarotti belongs to the lucky 25% who may fully recover.

By guest writer Khristine