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Steve Jobs was diagnosed in October 2003 with an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which is a rare form of pancreatic cancer that is significantly less aggressive than the more common adenocarcinoma. According to medical experts from Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, this specific type of tumor is slow growing and frequently curable if surgically removed before it metastasizes. Official biographer Walter Isaacson and surgical reports confirm that Jobs was advised to undergo immediate surgery upon diagnosis but instead chose to pursue alternative treatments for nine months, including specialized diets and acupuncture. By the time he consented to a Whipple procedure in July 2004, the cancer had reportedly spread to the surrounding tissues, eventually leading to his death from respiratory arrest and metastatic disease in 2011. Isaacson noted in the authorized biography Steve Jobs that the Apple co-founder eventually expressed deep regret for delaying the conventional medical intervention that doctors believed could have saved his life.