We might not have cured cancer across the board, but doctors and researchers are clearly on the right track with several different treatments and types of cancers.
This time, it’s throat cancer – and proof that a larynx transplant can help people to be able to speak again.
The patient is 59-year-old Massachusetts man Marty Kedian, and he is only a handful of people who have undergone this successful surgery.
The surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona hope that they will soon be able to offer this option to more and more people who are suffering.
The larynx is a small, tube-shaped structure that sits in front of the esophagus and above the trachea. It contains the vocal cords and also the epiglottis, which stops your food and drink from getting into your lungs.
It can be damaged by injury or laryngeal cancer, and either can have life-altering consequences.
“These patients may be tracheostomy tube dependent, gastrostomy tube dependent, and maye lose their ability to verbally communicate.”
The transplant operation is tricky and the results have historically been hard to predict. Until now, only 2 other patients have received one in the States, and Kedian is the first cancer patient to undergo the surgery.
He previously had several procedures to try to remove the cancer and keep his larynx functions in tact, but he had difficulty speaking and swallowing, and was left with a tracheostomy tube.
One point in his favor was Kedian already taking immunosuppressants for a previous kidney transplant, which meant the risk of cancer returning was already addressed.
He waited 10 months before an appropriate donor larynx to become available, and then underwent a 21-hour procedure for the actual transplant.
Three weeks later, he uttered his first word, and since then, he has learned to swallow and further improve his speech.
He spoke with AP about his experience.
“Every day it’s getting better. I’m pushing myself to make it go faster because I want these tubes out of me, to go back to a normal life.”
Kedian says he was hopeful the surgery could return some sense of normalcy to him.
“I love to talk to people everywhere I go, and I just couldn’t. I felt strange, and I wouldn’t go out anywhere. I wanted this so I could talk and breathe normally with my new granddaughter. I want to read her bedtime stories with my own voice.”
Even though laryngeal cancer is fairly rare, it still affects nearly 200,000 people worldwide, and is the biggest cause of damage leading to larynx removal.
Every little bit helps, and every kind of cancer deserves to be banished for good.
If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.