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How One Young Adult With Stage 4 Lung Cancer Is Beating The Odds
It was a hot, humid night in 2010 when Giancarlo Oviedo-Mori and his parents sat in a Bronx hospital and received the shock of their lives. They learned that he had advanced non-small cell lung cancer. He was only 18 years old and had big dreams. "Every South American kid wants to be a professional soccer player. I wanted to be the next Messi," remembers Giancarlo, who immigrated to the United States with his family from Peru when he was 8 years old.
"I had never seen my parents cry like that before. It really broke me," says Giancarlo, who has no family history of cancer and never smoked. "There was no logical reason why I got lung cancer, but I didn't question it. I just trusted God and had this peace that everything was going to be OK."
Fifteen years later, Giancarlo is now married and has a 2-year-old son as he continues to live with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. Over the years, the cancer has remained persistent, but each time one treatment stopped working, there has been a new drug to try, thanks to clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) where he is now being treated.
The Difficulty of Diagnosing Lung Cancer in Young Non-Smokers
Lung cancer is rare in people under age 45. The average age of diagnosis is 70. It took six months of tests and treatments for a nagging cough that wouldn't go away for doctors to rule out asthma, cystic fibrosis, and other conditions that would be more likely to affect a young adult like Giancarlo.
"He's in the category of our younger patients who don't fit the historical profile of lung cancer diagnoses, which tend to be heavy smokers in their 70s," says thoracic medical oncologist Alexander Drilon, MD, Chief of the Early Drug Development Service at MSK.
Giancarlo with his family and care team at MSK. From left: Dr. Drilon, Amanda, Josiah, Giancarlo, and nurse practitioner Virginia Ferreira.
Experts have seen a rise in lung cancer rates among non-smokers. "It's something we should be paying attention to," says Dr. Drilon. "No one would have thought to screen a non-smoking teenager for lung cancer, but we need to be better at knowing what to do for screening in patients without traditional risk factors."
Maintaining Quality of Life During Lung Cancer Treatment
No stranger to overcoming difficult circumstances, Giancarlo was a survivor and seemed poised to tackle this new challenge head on. He had already conquered the hurdles of moving to a new country, adapting to a new culture, learning a new language, and making new friends.
He had several cycles of chemotherapy at a local hospital, in 2010 and 2011, to reduce the lung cancer in his left lung. In 2012, he was referred to MSK, where he had his entire left lung removed.
"I didn't think you could live a good quality of life after getting a whole lung removed, but I was grateful that you can," says Giancarlo. "Just nine days after surgery, I was able to ride my bike to the park and play soccer. I finished college. By God's grace, I had good lung capacity, and I started thinking I could do a lot of great things."
Tackling Recurrent Lung Cancer
Four months after Giancarlo's surgery, his doctors discovered that a spot on his right lung — previously thought to be inflammation — had grown. A needle biopsy confirmed that it was a slow-growing cancer, which they monitored closely on active surveillance until 2013. That's when Giancarlo was introduced to new treatment options being studied in clinical trials.
Thoracic medical oncologist Alexander Drilon, MD, Chief of the Early Drug Development Service at MSK
He joined an immunotherapy trial at MSK in late 2014 and another trial studying a targeted therapy in 2015. Those treatments helped keep the cancer under control until doctors were able to analyze the genetics of his tumor using MSK-Impact®, a sophisticated blood test that searches for genetic mutations or changes in a person's cancer. The results are used to guide treatment choices and identify people who are candidates for clinical trials testing therapies that target the specific mutations driving the cancer.
"There's a higher likelihood of finding something actionable and targetable in lung cancers from younger patients like Giancarlo," says Dr. Drilon. In fact, when Giancarlo was tested in late 2015, the results showed that his cancer had a ROS1 fusion mutation, and there was a treatment available that could target it.
In 2016, Giancarlo began taking Crizotinib, the first ROS1 targeted therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). His willingness to try new treatments along the way allowed him to reap the benefits of these novel therapies.
Living a Full Life With Advanced Lung Cancer
Now 32 years old, Giancarlo has been surviving — and thriving — with advanced lung cancer since he was first diagnosed as a freshman in college. Despite the difficulties of having a chronic condition that demands ongoing monitoring and care, he has continued to lean on his deep-rooted Christian faith and a positive attitude, and has managed to accomplish just about everything he's set out to do, from graduating from college to getting married and starting a family.
Giancarlo's experience shows us the power of research and why it's so important to study new therapies," says Dr. Drilon. "He was able to access four options that he would never have had access to if clinical trials didn't exist."
"Life is short, regardless of cancer, so I don't let this chronic invisible disease define me," says Giancarlo.
His wife, Amanda, was inspired by Giancarlo's resolve to live life to the fullest from the time she met him through mutual friends in 2019. "He doesn't let cancer stop him from dreaming about what his future could look like," she says.
They married during the height of the pandemic and discussed the possibility of having children while he was on Crizotinib. Doctors said there was no data available to show if they could conceive — and if they did, whether the medication would impact the development of the baby. Nonetheless, they decided to try and had a healthy baby boy in 2023.
"We named our son Josiah because his name means 'God heals,'" notes Giancarlo. "Every time we say his name, it's a reminder to us of God's truth. That He heals, not just physically but emotionally."
Giancarlo, who works for a Christian organization that hosts events for international students, has also been able to travel while on treatment. He has gone on several business trips, and he and Amanda have visited her family in North Carolina. In 2024, he and his mother vacationed in their native Peru after being cleared by his doctors to take the trip.
"I make plans and set goals, but I'm realistic too," says Giancarlo, who lives with Amanda and Josiah in Union City, New Jersey, about an hour's drive to his appointments at MSK. "There have been moments of uncertainty, and it hasn't always been easy, but our faith has given us rest for our minds and our souls."
Clinical Trials Offer New Options
Giancarlo was on Crizotinib for four years, until 2020, when imaging showed that the lung cancer had begun to grow once again. Radiation was added to his care plan and that kept it at bay until 2023, when tests confirmed that the cancer had developed a new mutation making it resistant to Crizotinib.
Amanda and Giancarlo were introduced by mutual friends in 2019 and married at the height of the pandemic.
But because MSK has one of the largest clinical trial programs in the country, there was a new targeted treatment option that Dr. Drilon and his team had been working on.
"We looked at our portfolio and saw that we had something that might hit the ROS1 target really well but also hit this resistance mutation that developed with prior ROS1 inhibitors," says Dr. Drilon. "We had a clinical trial open that allowed us to give him what is likely the best-in-class ROS1-inhibitor for his specific cancer."
The drug is called Zidesamtinib (NVL-520), and Giancarlo continues to do well on the treatment without experiencing serious side effects.
"Giancarlo's experience shows us the power of research and why it's so important to study new therapies," explains Dr. Drilon, noting that this is the fourth clinical trial that Giancarlo has participated in. "He was able to access four options that he would never have had access to if clinical trials didn't exist."
He encourages other providers to help patients consider both standard of care and investigational options throughout the course of their disease. "As Giancarlo's case demonstrates, it has bought him a lot more quality time with his wife and child," says Dr. Drilon. "And as research continues, new treatments are being developed all the time."
Beating the Odds
Giancarlo credits Dr. Drilon and his care team at MSK for helping him to stay well, remain hopeful, and continue to have a good quality of life. He and Amanda treasure a photo of themselves with Dr. Drilon and MSK nurse practitioner Virginia Ferreira celebrating the first time they got a good report back from the Zidesamtinib trial.
"It's a picture we keep near and dear to our hearts because they are our partners," says Amanda. "I can't imagine all the work that's gone into these clinical trials, but it's made it possible for Giancarlo to become a husband and a dad, to work, and live a normal life. We're so grateful for the whole team there."
"Giancarlo has already well exceeded what we might expect from any patient with a metastatic lung cancer diagnosis," says Dr. Drilon. "There is hope that with access to new treatments being developed that he will continue to beat the odds."
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