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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2024
During the recent 2024 American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD) Annual Meeting in San Diego, Star Trek actor William Shatner spoke for reportedly the first time publicly about his experience with being diagnosed and treated for stage IV melanoma. Although the 92-year-old did not confirm when he had been diagnosed, apparently Mr. Shatner has been treated both surgically and with immunotherapy.
In an interview with Terrence A. Cronin, Jr, MD, President of the American Academy of Dermatology, the actor told the crowd gathered for the meeting’s plenary session how his cancer journey began with the discovery of a lump near his right ear. Although initially it was thought to be a blockage in the parotid gland, which might have been helped by massage, it continued to grow, and he sought a second opinion, according to Peter Wehrwein in an online article in Managed Healthcare Executive.
Mr. Shatner shared his positive experience with the second physician: “He did what is so beautiful about being a doctor. He had artistic hands and put them on my cheek, and he said, ‘We better get this out.’ It was said with such kindness, and there was such gentility above the touch of this doctor on my jaw that I saw the care and love that the doctor can give the patient in that moment.”
After surgery, Mr. Shatner was treated with immunotherapy, which caused fatigue. He credited the treatment with saving his life. “Here I am,” he declared. “I am really the best that I can [be], minus the lump right cheek.”
After the plenary session. Dr. Cronin commented on the importance of early detection and treatment of melanoma. “Mr. Shatner was willing to share this information with us in the hope that others would be able to recognize that early detection would save lives,” he noted.
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