Gurgaon doctors remove 'football-sized' cancerous tumour from African woman's abdomen

New Delhi: The doctors in Gurgaon hospital successfully removed a cancerous tumour weighing over nine kilograms from the abdomen of a 55-year-old African woman.

A statement from Fortis Hospitals said that a team of doctors at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram performed a three-hour surgery to remove a "football-sized" tumour that was compressing multiple vital organs.

Dr. Amit Javed, Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology, who led the procedure, stated that the tumour had caused the patient severe abdominal pain for the past six to seven months.

"The patient had previously sought treatment at several hospitals in Africa but was denied surgery due to the high risks posed by the tumour's size and location," Javed said.

Upon her arrival in Gurugram, extensive imaging through CT angiography and PET scans revealed the tumour's vascularity and its compression of critical organs, including her kidneys and urinary pathways. Due to its massive size, the tumour's origin was initially unclear, he said.

"The surgery was exceptionally challenging, given the tumour's size (9.1 kilograms) and the uncertainty about its origin," Dr. Javed said.

"Following the surgery, we identified the tumour as a gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), a rare cancer that arises from the stomach wall," he said.

Providing further details, he said that if left untreated, the tumour could have led to severe complications, including potentially life-threatening bleeding. However, the doctors removed the tumour successfully and the patient is recovering well.