William Shatner, the iconic Star Trek actor, and his daughter Melanie managed to overcome a cancer diagnosis just a year apart. The experience transformed them.
A double battle
In 2022, 61-year-old Melanie Shatner felt a small lump in her chest. Although her recent mammogram was normal, she insisted on additional testing. The result: HER2 positive breast cancer with lymph node involvement. Her treatment included chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, 30 sessions of radiotherapy and targeted therapies.
“Overcoming the disease changed my life. I am no longer afraid, and I feel a lot of freedom and joy,” he told People.
Just as Melanie was beginning to see progress, another blow came. In June 2023, 95-year-old William Shatner was diagnosed with malignant melanoma that had already spread to the lungs and brain. The actor recalled: “They told me, ‘You have cancer. If you had come any later, you would be dead.’ See? That’s my life. I think the universe takes care of me.”
To surgery and immunotherapy
The actor underwent surgery to remove the tumor from his cheek and then received two years of immunotherapy. At the end of 2024, both were declared cancer-free. Melanie said that it was the third time she saw her father cry, when he knew that she was completely healthy.
Now father and daughter are channeling their experience into No Time but Now, a podcast that will premiere on July 29. There they will talk with doctors, specialists and survivors about health. Melanie has also become a speaker to raise awareness about breast cancer, while Shatner continues with musical projects.
