PITTSBURGH -- Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch may have more time than he and his doctors first thought.

Pausch -- who is being treated for pancreatic cancer -- said he recently found out that the chemotherapy he has taken to slow the spread of his cancer appears to be doing more. The tumors in his spleen are gone, and a dozen tumors in his liver either are stable or shrinking.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, doctors estimated that the chemotherapy treatment may be able to extend his life by an extra two to four months.

Pausch stepped onto the world stage in September when he gave a philosophical lecture that has been downloaded from the Internet more than 1 million times worldwide.

On Monday, he appeared on Oprah to explain how much his life has changed since giving that speech.