CRICKET BALL
SIZED PROBLEM

Extremely rare tumour, weighing over 250 grams
successfully removed from a patient

An Estate Contractor visited Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital with complaints of not being able to pass urine and was later successfully operated for a rare cancerous tumour at the hospital.

The patient was diagnosed with Prostate Carcinosarcoma - an extremely rare combination of Carcinoma (Cancer which arises from epithelial tissue like prostate glands) and Sarcoma (Cancer which arises from supporting tissue like muscles and fascia). As per the experts, less than 60 such cases have been reported in medical literature worldwide.

In a six-hour-long surgery, a team of highly experienced surgeons removed

the patient’s prostate, urinary bladder, rectum and dissected the pelvic lymph node in a complete extraction of the tumour which was larger than a cricket ball and weighed about 250 grams. Prior to admission, he had undergone an endoscopic prostate surgery (TURP) for his urine obstruction. However, as the problem of urine obstruction continued, his treating physicians decided to perform a prostate biopsy

As diagnostic tests revealed an aggressive variant of Prostate Cancer, he was referred to Nanavati Hospital. Upon admission, doctors performed an MRI of the prostate and a PET-scan to determine the spread and stage of the disease. The MRI showed an extremely large mass, bigger than a cricket ball. The tumour had spread in the entire prostate, infiltrating into the urinary bladder and rectum. Fortunately for him, the PET scan showed no spread anywhere else in the body. A team of expert Oncologists and counsellors suggested surgical intervention, followed by radiation and chemotherapy if necessary. In all the prior reported cases surgery was considered as the mainstay of the treatment.

The team performed pelvic exenteration, which involved the removal of his urinary bladder, prostate and rectum along with a complete pelvic lymph node dissection. The six-hour-long surgery proceeded without complications. Pathological findings of tumour substantiated the diagnosis of extremely rare Carcinosarcoma. The patient recovered without any complications and was discharged after ten days.