CHICAGO — Amy Piccoli, a 39-year-old Los Angeles resident, received a living-donor liver transplant in Chicago in December 2025. Piccoli, who has Stage IV colon cancer, was deemed eligible for the procedure under a treatment protocol for metastatic colon cancer patients.

Piccoli experienced severe dehydration and sought emergency care in May 2024 after an illness. During her emergency room evaluation, doctors performed a CT scan, which revealed spots on her liver and a mass in her colon. A follow-up MRI and biopsy confirmed a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. Piccoli, who has no family history of cancer, began cancer treatment in June 2024.

Genetic testing indicated that immunotherapy could be used to treat Piccoli's tumors, and immunotherapy was added to her treatment regimen in July 2024. A combination of two medications reduced the size of Piccoli's tumors, and surgeons removed the tumor from her colon. However, Piccoli's liver tumors were not suitable for direct surgical removal.

Dr. Zachary Dietch, a transplant surgeon at Northwestern Medicine, stated that continuing chemotherapy alone for liver tumors yields approximately a 10 percent chance of five-year survival. Dr. Satish Nadig, director of Northwestern Medicine's Comprehensive Transplant Center, noted that European medical data indicated that select colon cancer patients with liver metastases who undergo colon tumor resection and subsequent liver transplant can achieve five-year survival rates up to 80 percent. Eligibility for liver transplantation as a treatment for metastatic colon cancer requires patients to have a low risk of cancer recurrence and no disease elsewhere in the body.

Piccoli traveled to Chicago in September 2025 for a transplant evaluation. Medical evaluators determined she was a suitable candidate for a living-donor liver transplant, and Lauren Prior was selected as the living donor. "I was just so excited for the surgery. I was excited for a transplant. I had no fear around such a major surgery." Piccoli said. Dr. Dietch reported that the transplant surgeries for both Piccoli and Prior proceeded without complications.

Piccoli remained in Chicago for three months following her surgery to manage anti-rejection medications and undergo monitoring scans. She departed Chicago at the end of March. Piccoli said, "It was hard, it was hard on everyone, but at the end of the day, I did this so that I can live a long life for my kids." Dr. Nadig stated that patients who receive liver transplants for metastatic colon cancer will undergo regular medical scans for five years post-surgery and that the risk of cancer recurrence in qualified transplant patients is low. "It's not a death sentence anymore." Nadig said.