NEW DELHI, India — Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi have successfully removed a massive 19.9-kilogram tumor from a colon cancer patient, performing a complex, multi-stage surgery that doctors say has given her a new lease on life.
The patient, Munmun, a woman from Durgapur in West Bengal, was admitted to AIIMS in July 2024 with severe abdominal distension. She had a medical history that included a unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy performed about 25 years earlier.
Doctors diagnosed her with stage-4 colon cancer with extensive pelvic involvement. She had previously sought treatment at multiple hospitals and undergone several rounds of chemotherapy, but the disease continued to progress. With the tumor spreading across multiple abdominal organs, she had reportedly been given a prognosis of only three to four months to live.
In a statement, AIIMS said a team led by Prof. M.D. Ray, a surgical oncologist at the institute, performed a high-risk cytoreductive surgery beginning January 12, followed by Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, or HIPEC, on January 15.
“A team of doctors, led by Prof. M.D. Ray, a surgical oncologist at AIIMS Delhi, performed successful cytoreductive surgery on January 12, achieving complete resection and removing 19.9 kg of tumour burden with multi-organ resections, completing surgery plus HIPEC on January 15, to complete the oncosurgical management,” the institute said. “The patient was shifted from the ICU to the ward and later discharged. She is doing fine, expectedly.”
Speaking to reporters, Ray said imaging scans had initially suggested the disease was inoperable.
“The scans showed a massive abdominal tumor with no separately identifiable organs. The entire abdomen was occupied by a tumour mass,” he said.
Given the scale of the disease, Ray decided to perform the procedure in two stages.
“In the first stage, I removed the bulk of the tumour. We performed extensive resection, removing ascending colon, part of ileum, two-thirds of transverse colon, sigmoid colon, omentum, uterus, and bilateral fallopian tubes, parts of liver and liver capsule, and peritoneum,” he said.
He added that the operation was particularly challenging due to inflammation and tumor infiltration around major blood vessels.
“Major vessels such as the IVC were at risk due to inflammation and infiltration, making surgery extremely challenging,” Ray said, noting that the patient became hemodynamically unstable during the first stage because of blood loss and other complications.
Two days later, surgeons proceeded with the second stage, administering HIPEC. Unlike conventional chemotherapy, which is delivered intravenously, HIPEC involves circulating heated chemotherapy directly inside the abdominal cavity after visible tumors have been removed.
“Once we were satisfied that all visible tumours were removed, HIPEC was administered for one and a half hours to eliminate microscopic disease that cannot be seen with the naked eye,” Ray said.
“Postoperatively, the abdomen appeared completely free of visible tumor. The liver and intestines were clearly visible and uninvolved,” he added.
The patient was monitored in the intensive care unit following surgery and recovered rapidly.
“On the first postoperative day, she was already smiling and laughing. She was discharged on the fifth postoperative day. The first surgery was done on January 12th, the second on January 15th, and she was discharged on January 20th,” Ray said.
Ray emphasized that advanced colon cancer should not automatically be considered untreatable.
“Metastatic colon cancer should not be declared untreatable without evaluation at a high-volume center with expert surgeons,” he said.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer among women and the sixth most common among men in India. Doctors say major risk factors include tobacco and alcohol use, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and chronic stress. (Source: IANS)
