AIIMS doctors remove 17.9kg tumour from woman’s uterus

Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) removed a football-sized cancerous tumour from the uterus of a 59-year-old woman. The tumour weighed

Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) removed a football-sized cancerous tumour from the uterus of a 59-year-old woman. The tumour weighed 17.9kg—equivalent to the weight of seven newborns.

HT Image

“It was a massive tumour, but the size did not pose any surgical challenge. And, as it was not affecting any other organs, removing it was fairly easy. However, the reason that the tumour had become so big was that she did not receive appropriate advice at the right time,” Dr MD Ray, professor of oncology at AIIMS, said.

The woman did not realise that she had a tumour and thought that she was putting on weight. “We found out that she had a tumour just a month back when my aunt insisted that she get an ultrasound. She took my mother to a local hospital. When the doctor there saw her reports he immediately asked us to take her to a bigger hospital. I have received treatment at AIIMS before so I decided to bring her here,” the patient’s son said.

Cancer of the uterus is the fifth-most common among women in Delhi, at 3.5% of all cancers in women.

“She has been a fairly active person and had been working on farms regularly up until the doctor told her the diagnosis. For about a year now, she had been complaining of bloating and heaviness. She thought it was because she was not able to digest food properly,” her son said.

“She spoke to some village elders and they said that it was fine, so we never got it checked,” he said.

Dr Ray said that the cause for concern was that she had reached the hospital only after the tumour had grown to such huge proportions.

“Most patients who come to me—90%—come at a very late stage of their disease. A huge proportion of these patients have been to vaids, hakims and homeopaths before they go to a doctor and get referred to AIIMS. Many try home remedies and alternative medicine when they first start experiencing the symptoms despite there being no science to show that these things work,” Dr Ray said.

“In this case, the tumour was cancerous and fast-growing. Although the patient was obese, she must have gained most of the weight over three to six months. She should have consulted a doctor sooner,” he said.