Andrew Sweeney, now 35, was aware of his risk for colorectal cancer – his mother had had been diagnosed with it when she was 41. When he was 31, a CT scan at University of Michigan Health’s University Hospital revealed that Sweeney had a mass in his colon and potential metastases in his liver and lymph nodes. A colonoscopy confirmed that he had stage 4 colorectal cancer.

After 1.5 years of chemotherapy, his care team began discussing how they could remove the damaged parts of Sweeney’s liver. They developed a colorectal cancer liver transplant protocol from a deceased donor and Sweeney was the first patient to undergo a liver transplant in Michigan for colon cancer. After minor recurrences of tumors in his lung in 2024, which were treated by surgery and radiation, his scans have been clear.

For more episodes, visit the Cancer Aware podcast website.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

Cancer Aware is a part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network and is produced by the Michigan Medicine Department of Communication. You can listen to Cancer Aware wherever you get your podcasts.

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