Arjun Balar, MD, a genitourinary oncologist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, came up with a special plan of action to treat Hector Camacho, a retired New York City police sergeant, with a rare urothelial cancer. People with Camacho’s type of cancer, which occurs in the urethra, typically have less than five percent chance of survival.

Dr. Balar treated Hector with a combination of radiation and immunotherapy developed as an individualized treatment. Only one year later, Camacho’s scans came back cancer free. “His experience is actually leading us to design new clinical trials and other approaches for patients with this type of cancer,” Dr. Balar tells CBS News.

Watch more on CBS News.