Patrick Swayze's Last Days: 'Dirty Dancing' Icon 'Knew He Was a Dead Man Walking' — His Tragic Cancer Battle Remembered on What Would’ve Been His 73rd Birthday

Sources close to Patrick Swayze said he knew he was "a dead man walking" but continued to give his all in his fight against pancreatic cancer.

RadarOnline.com has revisited the Dirty Dancing star's brave cancer battle on what would have been the actor's 73rd birthday on August 18.

Swayze died aged 57 on September 14, 2009, a little over a year-and-a-half after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in January 2008.

Insiders told us despite Swayze's grim diagnosis, he faced his cancer battle head-on and fought courageously even though he knew the odds were stacked against him.

Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi, recalled a chilling conversation she had with her late husband after he discovered he had cancer in January 2008.

She said: "When he first found out he had pancreatic cancer he turned to me and said, 'I'm a dead man.'

"I didn't know much about pancreatic cancer, but he did – and from what he knew, anytime you heard someone had pancreatic cancer, it was like, 'well, he's out of here.'"

Even Swayze's doctors were blunt with their diagnosis, telling the Road House star, "you can go ahead and treat it and be as aggressive as you want, but do think about getting your affairs in order sooner rather than later."

Despite the hopelessness of the situation, Niemi said "every ounce of energy we had (went) into helping him live."

In his first interview since his diagnosis, the native Texan told Barbara Walters, "I've never been one to run from a challenge" in regard to his disease.

When asked if he was scared, he confessed: "I don't know. I will be so either truthful or stupid as to say no. But then I immediately, when I say that, I have to say yes, I am.

"You can bet that I'm going through hell. And I've only seen the beginning of it."

For nearly two years, Swayze fought back. He underwent cancer treatment at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics in Palo Alto, California, where he participated in a clinical trial and received experimental drugs.

While receiving care at Stanford, Swayze made the decision to move forward with filming A&E's The Beast, which his oncologist, Dr. George Fisher, said was "a great idea."

Fisher said, "I had my doubts as to whether he could actually do it or not and we had many conversations around that fact," noting Swayze was aware of "how difficult the treatment could be, and he understood how difficult the disease could be."

Swayze's oncologist added: "But it's just like Patrick to just say he's going to do it, and damn it, nobody should get in his way."

Sadly, The Beast was canceled after Swayze's illness spread to his liver.

In the aftermath of Swayze's death, Dr. Fisher said the Ghost star managing to live with the disease for nearly two years was "quite an accomplishment."

He told Larry King at the time: "Patients can survive two years – even longer, even with standard treatment. It's just sad that not as many do."