Shocked surgeons have removed a massive tumour from an 18-year-old girl’s stomach after her parents thought she was putting on weight.
The 20-kilogramme (44-lb) growth – the weight of four bowling balls – was removed in a three-hour operation in Concepcion, the capital of the Concepcion Province in the region of Junin in central Peru, on Thursday, 23rd February.
Patient Andrea Alvarez had first gone to a local hospital in Pangoa District suffering from abdominal pains.
But when medics scanned her they discovered a growth the size of twins inside her.
The Peruvian Ministry of Health said in a statement on 23rd February: “Successful operation carried out by IREN Centro on an 18-year-old girl!
“A tumour weighing 20 kilogrammes and one metre high was removed from a patient from Pangoa in the Central Selva.
“The size of the tumour covered the entire abdomen similar to that of a woman pregnant with twins.”
The girl’s mum, named as Sonia Ramirez, said: “We thought she was overweight.”
She explained that she took her daughter to their local Pangoa District Hospital after she began experiencing abdominal pain and was shocked when medics said that she had a huge tumour inside her.
Andrea was then referred to the Regional Institute of Neoplastic Diseases.
Shortly before the three-hour operation, Ramirez said: “She has always been chubby, we thought it was due to being overweight, but she began to swell and feel pain.
“I am very happy with the success of the operation. Thank God everything went very well.”
The operation was performed by Dr Danilo Baltazar, a specialist in gynaecological oncology, which deals with cancers of the female reproductive system.
He said: “The giant abdominopelvic tumour with cystic and solid areas was successfully removed and sent for pathological studies.”
After medics have studied the tumour, they will decide whether or not the patient needs chemotherapy, should she be diagnosed with cancer.
