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Forrest Gump star Gary Sinise has announced the death of his 33-year-old son Mac, who had been battling "a very rare cancer".

The US actor revealed his son died on 5 January, more than five years after he was diagnosed.

posted on the Gary Sinise Foundation website, he said the family was "heartbroken" and "managing as best we can".

He added he felt "blessed, fortunate, and proud" to be Mac's father.

Mac, whose full name was McCanna Anthony Sinise, was a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and was an "exceptional drummer," his father said.

Sinise said he was diagnosed with Chordoma in August 2018, just two months after his wife Moira was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.

His wife went into remission and has remained cancer-free following treatment. However, Mac's cancer spread and "disabled him more and more", Sinise wrote.

"As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one." he said.

"It's heartbreaking, and it's just damn hard. Our family's cancer fight lasted for five-and-a-half years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on."

Sinise, who acted as Lieutenant Dan Taylor in 1994 Oscar-winning film Forrest Gump opposite Tom Hanks, said the family's hearts "ache" at missing Mac.

But he added that they were comforted in knowing that he was no longer suffering, and were "inspired and moved by how he managed it".

"He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying."

Sinese, 68, said the "one in a million" cancer originates in the spine and affects around 300 people in the US each year.

He called his son "an incredible inspiration to those who knew and loved him," adding: "He faced his battle with grace, courage, and love. Even with one setback after another, he never stopped living and learning, creating, and giving, and loving."