Stage IV ALK Lung Cancer: Matt's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Matt Hiznay was 24 and in his second year of medical school when a persistent dry cough led to a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis in August 2011. He was a lifelong nonsmoker, making the diagnosis especially hard to process. Testing showed the cancer was driven by an ALK mutation, a rare driver found in a small share of lung cancers. Matt tried multiple treatments after diagnosis. Some worked for a period of time, but the cancer kept recurring. In 2015, he enrolled in a phase I clinical trial for lorlatinib, a targeted therapy designed to attack cancer cells with his specific ALK change. He responded well. Lorlatinib later became FDA-approved, and Matt continued taking it. His cancer has not been called cured, but it remains in remission, and he had no evidence of disease as of the story update. Fertility preservation also became an important part of his journey. Matt banked sperm before cancer treatment, and more than 10 years later he and his wife welcomed their daughter, Theodora, in May 2023. As of November 2023, Matt was a 12-year lung cancer survivor, working in cancer clinical-trial matching and using his experience to encourage others facing advanced disease to focus on one day at a time.