Andy Taylor is ‘fighting as hard as he can’ amid his cancer battle as he issued a new health update on Thursday.

The Duran Duran guitarist, 63, was diagnosed with incurable stage-four metastatic prostate cancer in 2018 and his bandmate Simon Le Bon says the group are doing the best to support him in his fight against the disease.

Speaking at a press conference for Duran Duran’s performance at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, Simon said: ‘I am sure he would love to be here. 

‘As you probably know, he’s got prostate cancer. It’s very late stage, fourth-stage metastasised cancer. He’s fighting as hard as he can, and we are with him in that fight.’

Elsewhere during the press conference, the Rio hitmaker explained he believes the group have stayed together for so many decades because they get along so well and never row about money or royalties.

He explained: ‘There is something between us that keeps us together. First of all, we love the music we make together. Nobody else makes music like we do. We’ve all tried to do things on our own, and it just doesn’t seem as exciting as when the four of us get together and work.

Andy Taylor is ‘fighting as hard as he can’ in his cancer battle as he issued a new health update on Thursday

The Duran Duran guitarist, 63, was diagnosed with incurable stage-four metastatic prostate cancer in 2018 and his bandmate Simon Le Bon says the group are doing the best to support him in his fight against the disease

‘We make each other laugh, and I think that’s very important in a long relationship. When we are under stress, we laugh all the way through it, and it keeps everything light and fun.

‘And the other thing is, we split all the proceeds equally. No one takes all the publishing. We all share the finances equally.’

Andy previously admitted he wasn’t ‘even supposed to be alive’ but was relieved to be ‘asymptomatic’ after undergoing pioneering treatment.

He previously told The Times: ‘There was nothing to keep you alive. I was classified as palliative, end-of-life care. And now I’m not; I’m asymptomatic. Getting played on the radio — that’s the first time that’s happened to me for 30 years. Hold on — I’m not even supposed to be alive.’

The Ordinary World hitmaker received intravenous administration of radioactive chemicals as pioneered by Welsh scientist and biotech entrepreneur Christopher Evans, who he likened to tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Andy added: ‘He’s a genius. I call him the Elon Musk of cancer.’

The musician – who has four children with wife Tracey Wilson – went on to add that the ‘lowest point’ of the whole ordeal was preparing himself to say goodbye to his family and he described the whole experience as being ‘mind-blowing’ in a psychological sense.

He said: ‘The lowest point is maybe six weeks after the diagnosis when it really sinks in. You’re gonna have to say goodbye to your family. You’re not going to see your grandson’s 10th birthday. Psychologically it’s mind-blowing — you can’t have therapy to remove the certainty of death.’

Speaking at a press conference, Simon said: ‘I am sure he would love to be here….He’s fighting as hard as he can, and we are with him in that fight’; Duran Duran pictured in 1981