CLEVELAND — Six years after doctors told him he had lung cancer, Tony Holland walks the halls of Cleveland Clinic Akron General with a unique perspective. The 65-year-old patient transporter doesn't just move patients from one department to another—he offers them something more valuable: hope drawn from his own survival.

Holland was diagnosed with stage IIB non-small cell lung cancer in 2018. Surgeons removed the tumor from his lung, and he then enrolled in a clinical trial that analyzed his tumor tissue for specific genetic markers. This precision medicine approach identified him as a candidate for a study combining an investigational drug, Nivolumab, with standard chemotherapy.

The treatment worked. Today, Holland remains cancer-free with no recurrence, spending time with his family

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