Nick LaLuna of Kankakee is celebrating the holidays cancer-free, nearly three years after being told his liver cancer was untreatable.

LaLuna, 68, was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma during a routine heart check in early 2023. After being told “there’s nothing we can do,” his family encouraged him to seek a second opinion at Northwestern Medicine.

“My family encouraged me to get a second opinion, and that decision saved my life,” LaLuna said.

Dr. Yazan Numan, a medical oncologist at Northwestern Medicine St. George Cancer Institute in Orland Park, developed a treatment plan using immunotherapy and targeted radiation to prepare LaLuna for transplant eligibility.

After two years of treatment, LaLuna received a liver transplant on June 26, 2025. He now works with horses at his family’s LaLuna Farms boarding facility and looks forward to the holidays with his wife, Melissa.

LaLuna was able to receive nearly all of his cancer care less than 45 minutes from his Kankakee home at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital and Northwestern Medicine St. George Cancer Institute.

“Northwestern Medicine gave me a second chance,” LaLuna said. “I want people to know — never give up and always seek a second opinion.”