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William Shatner has revealed he was being treated for cancer at the same time as his daughter (Joe Giddens\/PA)<\/p>\nWilliam Shatner has revealed he and his daughter faced stage four cancer together after they were both diagnosed around the same time.<\/p>\n
The Star Trek actor, 95, shared that in June 2023 he was diagnosed with stage four malignant melanoma, which spread to his lungs and brain.<\/p>\n
The diagnosis came just as his daughter Melanie was in the final stretch of her treatment for stage four breast cancer after she received her diagnosis in 2022.<\/p>\n
William Shatner has revealed he was being treated for cancer at the same time as his daughter (Joe Giddens\/PA)<\/p>\n
Speaking to People, the pair shared details of their health struggles.<\/p>\n
For Shatner, concerns were raised after a lump grew on his cheek, which a doctor initially said was a blocked salivary gland and told him to \u201cjust massage it\u201d.<\/p>\n
However after it continued to grow, a month later he was warned by a plastic surgeon friend he \u201cbetter get it out\u201d after realising it was a tumour.<\/p>\n
Shatner then underwent surgery, which was followed by two years of immunotherapy to target the cancer in his lungs and brain.<\/p>\n
As his daughter explained, Shatner did not let the treatment \u201cstop his life\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept working and moving forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The 95-year-old is best known for starring as Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek franchise (Yui Mok\/PA)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Melanie \u2013 whose mother was Canadian actress Gloria Rand, who died in 2017 \u2013 had discovered a lump on her breast in 2022 and initially thought it was a bug bite after having a clear mammogram five months earlier.<\/p>\n
Although the technician initially found nothing concerning, Melanie said \u201csomething pushed me back\u201d and asked for it to be rechecked \u2013 with testing then confirming she had cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes in her chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was devastated,\u201d Shatner said of being told of his daughter\u2019s diagnosis.<\/p>\n
After undergoing 18 months of multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and 30 radiation therapy treatments, Melanie was about to finish treatment when her father was diagnosed with cancer too.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI remember vividly thinking, \u2018I don\u2019t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Shatner remained positive, adding: \u201cThey said, \u2018You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead\u2019. See? That\u2019s my life. I think the universe is taking care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remember vividly thinking, \u2018I don\u2019t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time’<\/p>\n
Melanie Shatner<\/p>\n
The father and daughter are now both cancer free, with Melanie saying overcoming cancer \u201cchanged my life\u201d and she was \u201cnot so afraid anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile her father added: \u201cWe\u2019re a very together family. We\u2019re bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we\u2019ve overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actor went on to share that he was now \u201chealthier than I\u2019ve been in years\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shatner is best known for playing Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek franchise from 1966 to 1994.<\/p>\n
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