22 October 2019 - Matt Hiznay was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. He was a non-smoker and just 24 years old.

Unfortunately for Matt, the cancer was an aggressive form caused by a gene mutation. Thankfully, the U.S. FDA had approved a new chemotherapy drug on the day he was diagnosed.

The drug, crizotinib, is intended for a rare type of lung cancer. Fewer than 4 percent of lung cancer patients have this kind of advanced, ALK-positive non-small cell lung disease. Crizotinib is targeted therapy that only attacks the cancerous cells with Matt’s specific mutation.

As Matt told the Cleveland Clinic, “it saved my life.” The Clinic noted that fluid around Matt’s heart and lungs made him so ill that his heart stopped beating more than once.

Read Time Magazine article