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The 54-year-old – who has had pancreatic cancer – has been working from Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters “a few days a week” and working from home the remaining days, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said Monday, according to the Associated Press. The Apple chief was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He had surgery in 2004 and announced then that he was cured.

Dowling could not immediately be reached for additional comment.

Last year, Jobs’ dramatic weight loss prompted new questions about his health. In early January, he said that he was suffering from an easily treated hormone imbalance, but less than two weeks later Jobs said his medical condition was more complex than he initially thought. He announced he would take a leave of absence until the end of June.

Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis, Tenn., said last week that Jobs had received a liver transplant, confirming an earlier report in The Wall Street Journal. Jobs was recovering well and his prognosis was good, the hospital said.

The force behind expanding Apple from a niche computer maker to become the iconic producer of portable music players as well as a major competitor in the mobile phone business, Jobs’ company has managed to navigate this economic downturn and – typically – manipulate much of the media into anticipating its next product launch.

Certainly, the company hasn’t slowed down as questions about Jobs’ health have emerged, capitalizing on the success of the iPhone 3G’s launch one year ago by selling 1 million iPhone (News - Alert) 3G S phones in the device’s first three days, through June 21.

At that time, this quote was attributed to Jobs: “Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning.”

Some customers apparently were fuming, however, according to stories now circulating on blogs and online forums that some users of Apple’s next-generation iPhone have experienced problems with their smartphones overheating,

Apple stock fluctuated somewhat since news and rumors about Jobs’ health first surfaced late last year. Shares of Apple rose to $142.43 at afternoon trading Tuesday.

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