The largest tumor ever removed intact from a human body weighed 303 pounds and was removed in 1991 from a woman’s right ovary. The operation took over six hours, and the tumor was found to be benign. Other cases of large tumors have also been reported.
According to Guinness World Records, the largest tumor ever removed intact from the human body weighed 303 pounds (137.6 kg) and measured 3 feet (1 m) in diameter. The tumor, located in the right ovary, was removed in 1991 during an operation performed by Professor Katherine O’Hanlan at the Stanford University Medical Center in California. The operation to remove the tumor from the abdomen of an unnamed 34-year-old woman took more than six hours to complete. The pathology report concluded that the tumor was benign. The patient made a full recovery and reportedly did not seek treatment sooner because she was bedridden and suffered from agoraphobia.
The operation to remove the world’s largest tumor intact was recorded on film and is available to watch on various web video sharing websites. The footage shows a 12-person medical team in an operating room preparing the patient for surgery using a red sterile solution called betadine. The doctor explains that the woman must be placed on her side for the surgery, as lying on her back could mean being crushed by the enormous weight of the tumor. After the procedure is complete, the tumor is wheeled out of the operating room on a gurney, leaving the patient several hundred pounds lighter.
An Oprah Winfrey Show guest was just shy of having the world’s largest tumor. Lori Hoogewind’s 200-pound (90.8 kg) tumor, also attached to her abdomen, is the result of genetic neurofibromatosis and required a life-threatening 18-hour surgical procedure to remove.
In 2004, a 47-year-old Romanian woman named Lucica Bunghez underwent surgery to remove another rival of the world’s largest tumor, a 176-pound (80 kg) growth caused by neurofibroma. The tumor was wrapped around the patient’s body, which added weight to her tiny structure. The procedure took eight hours to remove Bunghez’s tumor, compared to the six-hour procedure of the world’s largest tumor removed intact.
Other cases of tumors and other cystic growths have captured media attention due to the severe disfigurement caused to the patient, even though the growth is not classified as the world’s largest tumor. For example, in 2004 doctors removed a 16-pound (7.3 kg) facial tumor from a 14-year-old Haitian girl named Marlie Casseus, whose facial features had already been severely distorted and she was nearly blinded by the tumor. Casseus was born with a case of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which caused her bone structure to freeze.
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