NEW YORK --- Apple Inc. co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, whose recovery from pancreatic cancer appeared less certain when he had to take medical leave in January, received a liver transplant two months ago but is recovering well, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The newspaper didn't reveal a source for the report, which comes as Mr. Jobs, 54, is expected back in his duties at the company soon. CNBC said later that it had confirmed the Journal's account, which said Mr. Jobs had the transplant performed in Tennessee.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling reiterated what has become Apple's standard line about the CEO's health, that "Steve continues to look forward to returning to Apple at the end of June and there is nothing further to say."
Few CEOs are considered as instrumental to their companies as Mr. Jobs has been to Apple since he returned in 1997 after a 12-year hiatus. With Mr. Jobs serving as head showman and demanding elegance in product design, Apple has expanded from a niche computer maker to become the dominant producer of portable music players and a huge player in cell phones.
Mr. Jobs disclosed in August 2004 that he had been diagnosed with -- and cured of -- a rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the cancer is curable if the tumors are removed before they spread to other organs.
It's likely that Mr. Jobs had part or all of his pancreas removed to "cure" his cancer in 2004, said Dr. Lewis Teperman, the vice chairman of surgery and director of transplantation at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Patients who have part or all of their pancreas removed usually get diabetes, which is treated with medication.
After the pancreas, the liver is the "next stop" for a tumor since blood drains from the one organ to the other, said Dr. Teperman, who did not treat Mr. Jobs.
The five-year survival rate for organ transplants is about 75 percent, but falls among older recipients, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Transplant patients must take medications for the rest of their lives to prevent rejection.
APPLE'S BEGINNINGS
Steve Jobs earned his status as a computing pioneer in 1976, when he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple in the Silicon Valley garage of Mr. Jobs' parents.
Their first product, the Apple I, was a computer for hobbyists -- it lacked a keyboard or monitor.
But the next year they produced the Apple II for everyday consumers, and the personal-computer era was born.
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