Abu Dhabi doctors remove 3.5kg cancerous mass from woman

  ABU DHABI – Doctors at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi have successfully removed a massive cancerous tumour growing in the pancreas of a 50-year-old woman. “Another two to three months without treatment and it would have been too late," said Dr. Naveed Ahmed, a surgeon in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi who was part of the multidisciplinary care team involved in the surgery. It had been a painful seven months for the woman, whose requested anonymity, with hospitals turning her away due to the complexity of her case. The massive tumour had caused the stomach to bloat, making her look like a pregnant woman. However, the unnatural bulge made it difficult for her to move without feeling pain. A year ago, there were very few symptoms. Then she experienced a loss of appetite and diarrhoea. She also lost weight and felt fatigued most of the time. As the tumour grew, her abdomen began to bulge, making it difficult for her to sleep or carry out daily chores. When she went to a doctor for a check-up, a biopsy confirmed that she had pancreatic adenocarcinoma, a cancer that starts in the ducts of the pancreas. "The complexity involved in removing a 3.5kg mass meant that the other hospitals she visited found it challenging to handle the surgery. She was finally referred to the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi as her best hope," says Dr. Ahmed. "She was very weak when she arrived at the hospital and her stomach had expanded to an extent that she felt pregnant. This is because the large mass kept growing inside the abdomen and was intimately attached to the major vessels supplying the abdomen, liver and intestine. Another two to three months without treatment and it would have been too late," Dr. Ahmed said. Doctors at the hospital performed a near-total pancreatectomy in which a large incision was made in the abdomen to remove most of the pancreas and reconstructed the vessels around it. "The size did pose a challenge and we had to alter our usual technique of resection to preserve the main vessels that supply the gut. We then removed the cancer completely and reconstructed the vessels around the pancreas," Dr. Ahmed explained. The woman is now undergoing chemotherapy and will require ongoing medical checks by an oncologist to monitor and prevent a recurrence. The woman said she suffered for seven months with the disease. "My life had changed completely. I could not sleep and felt uncomfortable all the time. It was debilitating." She praised Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi for giving her hope and a second chance at life. "After visiting so many hospitals with no solution, I had almost given up.. I am so happy and am recovering very well," she said. ICA/Expat Media
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