{"id":5181,"date":"2026-07-22T15:35:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5181"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:35:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:35:58","slug":"william-shatner-95-and-daughter-61-fought-stage-4-cancer-at-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5181","title":{"rendered":"William Shatner, 95, and Daughter, 61, Fought Stage 4 Cancer at Same Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Shatner<\/strong><\/a> and his daughter Melanie Shatner<\/strong> are shedding light on their battles with stage IV cancer – which they fought at the same time.<\/p>\n

Read more Mother of woman killed in Raleigh hit-and-run questions hospital discharge before crash<\/a><\/p>\n

Melanie, 61, was undergoing chemotherapy for stage IV breast cancer in June 2023 when William, 95, was diagnosed with stage IV malignant melanoma, which spread to his lungs and brain.<\/p>\n

“I remember vividly thinking, \u2018I don’t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,'” Melanie told People<\/em><\/a> in an interview published on Wednesday, July 22.<\/p>\n

William, meanwhile, remained positive while going through<\/a> his own treatment. “They said, \u2018You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead,'” he said. “See? That’s my life. I think the universe is taking care of me.”<\/p>\n

Melanie initially discovered a lump on her breast one year before her father’s diagnosis.<\/p>\n

“I woke up in the middle of the night, and my finger moved up right beneath my breast. I felt a little bump and thought, \u2018It’s just a bug bite,'” she recalled, noting she had a clear mammogram five months earlier.<\/p>\n

Melanie got imaging done the next day<\/a> just to be safe, adding, “Something pushed me back and said, \u2018No, have her recheck it.’ She put the wand exactly where I put my finger and under her breath said, \u2018Now, I would have missed that.'”<\/p>\n

Melanie’s HER2-positive breast cancer spread to lymph nodes in her chest. William, for his part, was “devastated” to learn about his daughter’s health battle.<\/p>\n

“She was very conscious of the importance of her life for herself and for her family,” he said.<\/p>\n

Read more James Leutze, who taught at UNC and then helped shape UNCW, dies at 90<\/a><\/p>\n

William ultimately took on the cost of Melanie’s cancer treatment.<\/a><\/p>\n

“You said to me, \u2018I do not want you to worry. Just send me the bills,'” she shared. “Then you made me laugh so hard when I was still going to the doctor a year later. You said, \u2018You’ve got to get well. We’re going to be in the poorhouse!'”<\/p>\n

Melanie underwent multiple rounds of chemo with HER2-targeted therapies, a double mastectomy and 30 radiation therapy treatments.<\/p>\n

“Chemo was the most physically draining, and the radiation I found so emotionally draining,” she added.<\/p>\n

During her treatment, Melanie noticed a lump on her dad’s cheek.<\/p>\n

“I went to the family doctor, and he said, \u2018It’s your salivary gland. It’s blocked. Just massage it,'” William recalled about the mass, which continued to grow.<\/p>\n

William later underwent surgery to remove the tumor on his face, which was followed by two years of immunotherapy to target the cancer in his lungs and brain.<\/p>\n

“We got the perfect doctors for her cancer and my cancer,” William continued.<\/p>\n

William and Melanie were both declared<\/a> cancer-free in late 2024.<\/p>\n

“It was the third time in my life I had heard him cry,” Melanie said, while her dad added, “I’m healthier now than I’ve been in years. The brain is like a muscle. It feeds on activity.”<\/p>\n

After their individual health scares, Melanie and William each have a different outlook on mortality.<\/p>\n

“I do think you’re going to outlive me, but I have always thought if you go first, then I won’t be afraid because you’ll be the one to be there for me when I go,” Melanie told William, who quipped, “It’s a huge responsibility.”<\/p>\n

Read more Former Durham Academy coach charged with possession of child sexual abuse material<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Us Weekly. All rights reserved<\/i><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 22, 2026 at 9:38 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Shatner and his daughter Melanie Shatner are shedding light on their battles with stage IV cancer – which they fought at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliam Shatner, 95, and Daughter, 61, Fought Stage 4 Cancer at Same Time - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5181\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Shatner, 95, and Daughter, 61, Fought Stage 4 Cancer at Same Time - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Shatner and his daughter Melanie Shatner are shedding light on their battles with stage IV cancer - which they fought at the same time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5181\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-22T15:35:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"William Shatner, 95, and Daughter, 61, Fought Stage 4 Cancer at Same Time\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-22T15:35:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181\"},\"wordCount\":628,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/92cc837126d3e1b7159aa30393ee2b26.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181\",\"name\":\"William Shatner, 95, and Daughter, 61, Fought Stage 4 Cancer at Same Time - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/92cc837126d3e1b7159aa30393ee2b26.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-22T15:35:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=5181#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/92cc837126d3e1b7159aa30393ee2b26.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/92cc837126d3e1b7159aa30393ee2b26.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 08: William Shatner speaks onstage during the World Premiere of Batman vs. Two Face at the 2017 New York Comic Con -Day 4 on October 8, 2017 in New York City. 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