INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA president Myles Brand says he's fighting advanced pancreatic cancer "as hard as I can" with aggressive chemotherapy that has left him fatigued.

The 66-year-old Brand told USA Today he learned of his diagnosis Christmas Eve. A few days later his doctors told him his cancer had reached the fourth and final stage by spreading beyond the pancreas, making surgical removal of the cancer impossible.

Brand said his doctors at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis have not given him a medical timetable.

"It depends upon your individual biology. It could be short. It could be long. But I have signed up for aggressive treatment. I'm going to fight it as hard as I can," he told the newspaper.

Brand is receiving chemotherapy every two weeks. He appeared thinner during an 80-minute interview Monday in Indianapolis. He recalled how stunned he was when he learned of his dire prognosis.

"Peg and I were looking forward to another 20, maybe 25, years of a good marriage," he said. "And so that's a real shocker."

Brand said he still makes it to his office regularly but no longer works full days. He also works from his home by phone and e-mail.

After logging up to 150 days a year on the road, he's now unable to fly. But he plans to attend the men's Final Four in Detroit, which is less than a five-hour drive from Indianapolis.

Brand said he'll stay on the job as long as he's able to "contribute in a full-blown way, as long as I'm able to add some value to the position and help the NCAA stay on course."

Brand was president of Indiana University from 1994 to 2002. He is perhaps best known for his dismissal of basketball coach Bob Knight in 2000 for violating a zero-tolerance policy for misbehavior.

Brand has forged a legacy of academic comprehensive reform at the NCAA. In the last five years, university presidents have regained a stronger control of athletic programs. An Academic Progress Report has created a scorecard that punishes teams whose athletes consistently fail to keep up in the classroom.

His illness hit as he was beginning an initiative to let schools know that it's not wrong for them — or the NCAA — to capitalize on marketing and other commercial opportunities as long as they meet the decorum of higher education.

Brand, a former philosophy professor, said some have asked him why he doesn't seem angrier about his diagnosis.

"I'm not angry at anybody," he said. "This is biologically determined. It's not even clear what role your genetic makeup plays in it. These things happen."