A mom's Stage IV cancer had no symptoms. An innovative surgery saved her life.

Key Points:

• Amy Piccoli, a 39-year-old mother from Los Angeles, was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in May 2024 after a routine stomach bug led to emergency medical scans revealing liver spots and a colon mass, despite having no symptoms or family history.
• Late-stage colorectal cancer without symptoms is extremely rare, according to experts, and Piccoli's tumors showed significant shrinkage after starting immunotherapy and chemotherapy, enabling surgical removal of her colon tumor but not her liver tumors.
• Piccoli became a candidate for an innovative liver transplant procedure at Northwestern Medicine, which has shown promising five-year survival rates up to 80% for select patients with liver-only metastases from colon cancer.
• After a successful liver transplant from a living donor in December 2025, Piccoli spent three months in recovery and continues to undergo regular scans, with doctors emphasizing the procedure offers hope and a significantly improved prognosis compared to chemotherapy alone.
• Piccoli expresses gratitude for her new lease on life, looking forward to spending quality time with her children and living cancer-free, highlighting how her diagnosis has given her a fresh perspective despite the challenges faced.