Massachusetts man regains voice, complete with Boston accent, after rare larynx transplant

A Massachusetts man has his voice back after undergoing just the third successful total larynx transplant in the U.S.

The Mayo Clinic replaced Marty Kedian's larynx, or voice box, to remove a rare form of laryngeal cancer called chondrosarcoma. The procedure was the first time a larynx transplant has been performed on a patient with active cancer, the Mayo Clinic announced said in a news release announcing the surgery Tuesday.

Six surgeons performed the procedure over 21 hours at the clinic's Phoenix campus four months ago. The complicated operation involved multiple veins and nerves.

"The larynx is really part of a unit, or I like to say, a true biomechanical structure where it is alive," Dr. David Lott, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at The Mayo Clinic in Arizona, told USA TODAY on Wednesday. "The vast majority of people that have problems with just the larynx will also have (other throat) problems just because of how that all is so intricately woven together to work."

The results of the surgery were published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings on Tuesday.

The procedure was a part of the first known clinical trial on laryngeal transplantation in the U.S. Approximately 12,650 new cases of laryngeal cancer in the U.S. this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

"If we see that it is actually pretty safe to do this and we see that (patients) can get almost normal, or even half function, back − that's a huge difference for people," Lott said.

Surgery gives cancer fighter voice back

Kedian, who lives just north of Boston in Haverhill, was diagnosed with the cancer 10 years ago and underwent multiple surgeries, the last of which ended his ability to speak 10 months ago. He eventually underwent a tracheotomy to allow him to breathe through a hole in his neck.

"I was alive, but I wasn't living," Kedian said in a statement. "I love to talk to people everywhere I go, and I just couldn't. I felt strange, and I wouldn't go out anywhere."

Doctors told Kedian that his final option was to undergo a laryngectomy, meaning that his larynx would be completely removed and he wouldn't be able to talk again.

"The word laryngectomy pushed me to get this (transplant) because I didn't want a laryngectomy," Kedian told USA TODAY on Wednesday. "I wanted to find a way to get my quality of life back ... I wasn't gonna live with a laryngectomy."

Why larynx transplants are so rare

Total larynx transplants are not used in cancer cases as doctors are concerned that the immunosuppression required after the procedure can cause cancers to spread, according to the Clinic.

Kedian was chosen to participate in the clinical trial as he was already on immunosuppressants due to a previous kidney transplant.

Lott said that being able to operate on a cancer patient was an, "important step in advancing laryngeal transplant science, because we can watch it in his natural environment without putting him at additional risk."

Recovery exceeds doctor's prognosis

Kedian has regained 60% of his voice − Boston accent and all − and can eat most things, exceeding Lotts' timeline for recovery.

The first word Kedian spoke in six months was, "Hello" uttered to Lott.

"I wasn't supposed to talk at all. I said that first word after two weeks, and then they told me to keep quiet again," Kedian said.

Lott said a follow0up appointment where he heard Kedian's voice gain strength crystalized the importance of the trial.

"It just kind of hits you, like this is this is going to work, and this could be a huge impact on hundreds and thousands of people who are in the same situation," Lott said.

Kedian is set to return to Massachusetts next week and is looking forward to reading Winnie the Pooh stories to his granddaughter Charlotte.

"What they did for me is incredible," Kedian said. "Dr. Lott is family now."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Massachusetts man regains voice after extremely rare larynx transplant