Country legend Ray Price has confirmed he's been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The 86-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer says he has been undergoing chemotherapy for six months and is encouraged by the results. 

During an interview with the San Antonio Express, Price revealed that, thankfully, the tumor has not grown during the chemo. He feels fine at this point in time and is hopeful for a recovery. In fact, Price's agent tells Taste of Country that his cancer is in remission and that the news he got during a recent checkup at a Houston hospital was "positive and good."

“The doctor said that every man will have cancer if he lives to be old enough,” Price says. “I don't know why I got it -- I ain't old.”

One option in his treatment was to remove the pancreas, which involves taking out a portion of the liver and stomach. That would have meant a lengthy stay in a nursing home for the singer, but he wasn't having it. “That's not very much of an option for me," Price says. "God knows I want to live as long as I can, but I don't want to live like that."

Price's 65-plus year career includes well-known songs like 'Release Me,' 'City Lights' and the 1970 ACM and Grammy Award-winning hit 'For the Good Times.' Artists like Willie Nelson, Roger Miller and Johnny Paycheck were a part of Price's early bands.

Despite the scary diagnosis, the country icon continues to stay hopeful. He's looking forward to the future, and is hoping to play as many as 100 dates in 2013. He'll also begin recording a new album called 'Love Songs' this month in Nashville. It will be his first in six years when it's released next year.

“I'm not looking for sympathy," Price says. "That's just the way it is."

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