‘Luck and attitude’: 101-year-old WWII veteran defies the odds to become the oldest person to beat cancer

Source: Daily Mail, September 2017

• Bert Collins was born in 1916 and fought the against the Japanese in World War 2
• He found out he had a stage IV melanoma late last year, and given months to live
• Doctors at the Melanoma Institute tried a new immunotherapy treatment on him
• After only four treatments Bert’s cancer was gone and he made a full recovery

After being told he had only months to live, a WWII veteran has shocked doctors by beating cancer – at the unlikely age of 101.

Born in 1916, the Sydney man benefited from a new immunotherapy treatment called Keytruda and the tumour on his face is now gone.

Bert Collins from Bankstown, who fought the Japanese in New Guinea and worked at Myer for 50 years, is believed to be the world’s oldest cancer survivor.