Mother overcomes stage 4 colorectal cancer with a rare liver transplant

Amy Piccioli, a busy CPA, was just 39 years old when she visited the emergency room last year for what she thought was dehydration due to a stomach bug.

Instead, a CT scan revealed a mass in her colon and multiple lesions in her liver, which led to her infection Diagnosis of colorectal cancer – Even though there are “zero marks”.

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“I didn’t have any symptoms,” Piccioli told Fox News Digital. “I’m one of those people who cares very much about my health and is very aware of the changes in my body. So to have this happen without any signs or symptoms was a shock to me.”

Because the cancer had already spread, it was spontaneous Stage IV diagnosis.

Amy Piccioli, a mother of three in Los Angeles, says she is lucky to be alive after an unusual procedure that left her cancer-free. (Amy Piccioli)

“I felt numb, I couldn’t believe it,” Piccioli said. “Immediately, you have these feelings of panic and fear.”

In June 2024, Piccioli began undergoing chemotherapy, along with immunotherapy medication. After just three months, scans showed that chemotherapy had shrunk the tumors. Next, she He underwent surgery To remove a polyp from the colon.

An unlikely path

After completing traditional treatment courses, Piccioli found herself embarking on her path to… Liver transplant.

“The cancer was all over my liver,” she said. “In cases where the cancer is limited to one side of the liver, they can basically cut out that part…but in my case, resection wasn’t possible because the cancer was everywhere.”

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Although Chemotherapy “It was successful,” she said, “It was always a ‘whack-a-mole’ situation, where I would be on systemic chemotherapy for a long period of time, new things would come up, and it would be this cycle over and over again.”

“The chances of completely eradicating the cancer from my liver with chemotherapy alone were very slim. In cases like mine, a liver transplant is the only long-term solution.”

Piccioli (right) is pictured with Dr. Zachary C. Deitch, a transplant surgeon at Northwestern Medicine. (northwestern medicine)

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“We didn’t think it would be an option here,” Piccioli said. “It seems like something that would take a lot of effort to get.”

But her care team in California soon found out Northwestern Medicine in Chicago The Liver Transplant Program is specifically offered to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

“I have no evidence of the disease currently,” said Piccioli, who was pictured on the beach with her husband and three children. (Amy Piccioli)

“When a metastasis is observed in the liver, we have… Medical oncologistsalong with our transplant surgeons, begin to create care pathways tailored to the patient,” Satish Nadig, MD, PhD, transplant surgeon and director of the Northwestern Center for Comprehensive Transplant Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

The chances of a successful transplant depend largely on how the patient responds to treatment, according to doctors. In “carefully selected” patients, the five-year survival rate can be 60% to 80%.

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“Response to chemotherapy is a critical gatekeeper to liver transplantation in colorectal liver metastases,” Nadig said.

“Proof of disease control or response is usually needed, because it identifies patients whose tumor biology (less aggressive and not spreading rapidly) is favorable enough to warrant transplantation.”

“You must be the captain of your own ship.”

Piccioli, who was searching for a living donor, shared the need Family and friends. Lauren Pryor, a lifelong childhood friend, was tested and deemed a match.

The transplant was performed in December 2025, making Piccioli the first person at Northwestern to receive a living-donor transplant for metastatic colon cancer.

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Today, she and her donor are recovering well.

“The first week or two was tough, but by the fourth week, I was up and back doing normal things,” she said. “After about two months, I started exercising again. It’s now been three months and I feel completely normal. It’s amazing what the body can do.”

Piccioli, who was searching for a living donor, shared this need with family and friends. Lifelong childhood friend Lauren Pryor (right) was tested and deemed a match. (Amy Piccioli)

Piccioli recently had her first transplant blood test For tumor molecules inside the body, none have been detected. “So I have no evidence of illness currently,” she said.

She will remain in Chicago for continuous monitoring and examination until the end of March, when she returns to her home in Los Angeles.

Lookout

Early start Colorectal cancer He is often “silent,” according to Nadège.

“This is because screening is absent before the age of 45 and symptoms (such as slow bleeding) are usually subtle,” he warned. Tumors can also grow in places that are difficult to detect, such as the right side of the colon, or with biology that “delays obvious warning signs.”

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Although Piccioli didn’t experience any warning signs, she encourages others to pay attention to any changes in the body that might indicate cancer.

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“Do screenings at the recommended ages, follow through and be diligent About your health“, she advised.

“I think the main reason I got to Northwestern and was able to get this transplant is because I was very diligent in calling doctors and making appointments… I think that’s really the most important thing: You have to be the captain of your own ship.”