Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer, Apple Computers, has undergone successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and hopes to return to work in September, report agencies.
"I have some personal news that I need to share with you, and I wanted you to hear it directly from me,'' Jobs, 49, said in an e-mail to employees sent from his hospital bed.
"I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which represents about 1 per cent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was). I will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.''
In the e-mail which was also released to the media, Jobs assured colleagues that he was not suffering from a more common -- and more deadly -- cancer of the pancreas.
"The far more common form of pancreatic cancer is called adenocarcinoma, which is currently not curable and usually carries a life expectancy of around one year after diagnosis. I mention this because when one hears 'pancreatic cancer' (or Googles it), one immediately encounters this far more common and deadly form, which, thank God, is not what I had," Jobs said in the memo.
Jobs co-founded Cupertino's Apple Computer in 1976, but left in 1985 after a corporate power struggle.
A year later, he founded Pixar Animation Studios, which created a string of computer generated animated hit movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo.'
He heads both companies since 1997, when he returned to Apple as chief executive, reviving the firm's fortunes with new products like the iPod digital music player, the flat panel iMac computer, and the iTunes Music Store online service.
Executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations, Timothy Cook, will oversee day-to-day operations at Apple until Jobs returns to work. Jobs said he had asked Cook to take over "so we shouldn't miss a beat. I'm sure I'll be calling some of you way too much in August, and I look forward to seeing you in September.''
