(ABC 6 News) — Organ transplantation reached a groundbreaking achievement when a team of Mayo Clinic doctors in Arizona performed the world’s first known successful larynx transplant on a patient in a clinical trail and with cancer.

Additionally, this transplant marks the third known total larynx transplant in the United States. The 21-hour transplant was conducted by six Mayo Clinic surgeons and gave their patient, Marty Kedian, a second chance at life.

“Probably the most common thing I hear from my patients is they tell me ‘yes, I may be alive, but I’m not truly living.’ And that’s why this is such an accomplishment and such an excitement that we should be able to share and celebrate with Marty Kedian today,” said Dr. David Lott, the Chair of Otolaryngology Department at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

This year, the American Cancer Society expects there will be more than 12,000 new cases of laryngeal cancer. Until now, getting a transplant seemed impossible.