How 101-year-old Sydney man Bert Collins astounded doctors and beat cancer

WHEN he was diagnosed with cancer at age 100, Bert Collins thought his number was finally up. But he has astounded doctors by beating the disease.

EXCLUSIVE

Bert Collins is a medical miracle.

The 101-year-old has already lived nearly twice as long as other Aussie men born in 1916 — and now he has beaten cancer.

And it’s all thanks to a breakthrough new treatment doctors thought they’d try on the centenarian.

The Bankstown boy - who fought the Japanese in New Guinea during World War II where he was posted to a village inhabited by cannibals, mosquitoes and crocodiles - wasn’t going to let melanoma get between him and his next birthday.

And doctors believe he may be one of the oldest people ever to survive cancer.

When he was diagnosed with a stage IV melanoma late last year Bert had tumours in his brain, his liver, his bones and his lungs and had just a few months to live.

Bert Collins was initially thought to be too old for cancer treatment. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.

Bert’s local oncologist thought he was too frail for treatment but he was referred to Melanoma Institute Australia’s Dr Alex Menzies for a second opinion.

“There is a myth that older Australians shouldn’t be considered for treatment but newer immunotherapy treatments are highly efficient with minimal toxicity and we have many patients in their 80s and 90s receiving treatment,” said Dr Menzies.

“Bert was much more fit than most men 20 years younger, and therefore his age did not pose a barrier to treatment.”

After four treatments of the breakthrough new treatment Keytruda, which harnesses the body’s own immune system to beat cancer, Bert’s melanoma has disappeared.

Bert Collins who, thanks to a breakthrough new drug, has beaten melanoma. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Cancer vells put up shields to block the PD1 receptors on immune cells and immunotherapy treatments like Keytruda and Opdivo work by turning off this barrier allowing the immune system to destroy the cancer.

They don’t have the same toxic side effects as chemotherapy but cost around $150,000 a year.

The nation’s medicine subsidy scheme funds the treatments for melanoma, kidney and lung cancer.

“They’ve tested immunotherapies in almost every type of cancer and in almost every type 10-30 per cent of patients respond, the response rates are not as high as in melanoma, said Dr Menzies.

When he was younger Bert was the classic bronzed Aussie, living an outdoor life with no regard for sun safety.

Bert says he wasn’t aware of the danger from the sun when growing up. Picture: Supplied.

“Growing up, we just didn’t know how dangerous the sun could be. I figured something had to get me in the end, and so no doubt melanoma would be it,” Bert said.

He is thrilled the treatment has worked and is happy he’s able to shave again now the tumour on his face has disappeared.

Dr Menzies says Bert had a specific type of tumour that responds well to immunotherapy.

“Bert’s melanoma was advanced but he was otherwise well,” Dr Menzies said.

“We’ve come so far in research to find new and effective treatments for melanoma but I’d never had a patient as senior as Bert, so we didn’t know exactly how his body would respond to the treatment,” he said.

“Scientists for a long time have thought with age the immune system gets weak but these drugs work just as well in older patients as young patients,” he said.

Bert’s tale of survival will be discussed at an international cancer conference in Spain later this month.

Bert’s amazing cancer survival story will be discussed at an international oncology conference later this month. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

And Dr Menzies says it’s unclear what his treatment outcome means for the increasing longevity of the human race.

“His longevity certainly won’t be dictated by his cancer,” he says.

The average lifespan has increased by over 30 years since the 1900s as medical science conquered infection, death in childbirth, heart disease and other killers.

This means more and more people are dying of cancer but it too is now being overcome.

“We are now curing people with metastatic melanoma,” says Menzies.

Not everyone responds to these treatments and the hunt is on to figure out why and improve the treatments so everyone is cured, he said.

Bert from Bankstown in Sydney survived two World Wars, fought the Japanese in New Guinea between 1942 and 1945, endured the Great Depression and has seen 23 Prime Ministers.

The former retail worker and union delegate worked at Myer in Sydney for 50 years and grew up on shillings, pence and imperial measurement but he now lives in an era of bitcoins, the internet and mobile phones.

A WWII archive image of 101 year old Bert Collins who, thanks to a breakthrough new drug, has beaten melanoma at a very old age. Picture: Supplied

The centenarian took up smoking during the war but gave it up in his 60s, he doesn’t drink alcohol, remains active and lives independently.

The secret to longevity is “luck and attitude” said Collins.

Married twice to Norma then Peggy, Bert never had any children and his only surviving relative is a second cousin.

A keen dancer he competed in competitions and reckons he was pretty good at the Foxtrot, Argentine Tango and the Jazz Waltz.

Until 18 months ago he built dolls houses for charity.

“He’s a fantastic character, an absolute delight, he strides into the clinic, well dressed in a tweed jacket,” says Dr Menzies.