A woman's weight gain turned out to be an 86-pound ovarian tumor. - Insider

• A pistillate successful Italy went to her doc aft months of unexplained value summation and tummy pain.
• She recovered retired that she had a monolithic tumor successful her abdomen from a uncommon signifier of ovarian cancer.
• Doctors removed the 86-pound tumor and the pistillate is present crab free.

At a doctor's bureau successful Italy, a pistillate diligent presented with a swollen belly and tummy pains, and said that she had gained astir 55 pounds implicit the past 10 months.  The symptoms normally might constituent to gestation —  if the diligent wasn't 62 years old.

Besides the tummy pain, swelling, and immoderate shortness of breath, each of her different tests came backmost normal. 

Doctors opted to execute exploratory country and region immoderate was increasing successful the woman's abdomen. When they opened her up, they discovered an 86-pound tumor, which they described successful a caller JAMA Clinical Challenge.

Surgery revealed a uncommon tumor heavier than 4 watermelons

The tumor was a mucinous ovarian carcinoma, a uncommon subtype of ovarian crab characterized by fluid-filled crab cells that are coated successful mucus, that had originated from the patient's near ovary. Mucinous ovarian carcinoma accounts for astir 2-3% of caller ovarian cancer diagnoses.  

The doctors were capable to region the tumor successful 1 piece, which is important for fluid-filled tumors. Spilling the tumors' contents during country whitethorn summation the hazard that the crab volition travel back, according to a 2019 reappraisal published successful Radiographics.

The tumor, erstwhile removed, measured 19.7 inches long and weighed astir 86 pounds — bigger and heavier than 4 ample watermelons.

Mucinous tumors tin balloon to immense sizes, truthful they thin to beryllium recovered aboriginal compared to different types of ovarian cancer, according to the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Fortunately, patients who are diagnosed with signifier I mucinous ovarian carcinoma person a 5-year endurance of 90% oregon higher if they get the tumor removed completely, according to a reappraisal successful the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

The diligent successful Italy recovered good aft her country and was discharged from the infirmary 5 days later, her doctors wrote. At a six-month follow-up appointment, she was symptom-free and had nary markers of crab successful her blood.

Ovarian tumors tin beryllium unsafe astatine immoderate size

Even larger ovarian tumors person been described successful aesculapian literature; successful 2018, doctors removed a 132-pound wide from a 38-year-old pistillate successful Connecticut. Her tumor was not cancerous, but it grew to beryllium truthful ample that it affected her digestion.

But the size of a tumor doesn't person thing to bash with however unsafe it is. In fact, mucinous tumors similar the pistillate successful Italy had are benign successful astir 80% of cases, borderline cancerous successful 10% of cases, and the remaining 10% are malignant.

Smaller ovarian masses tin beryllium just arsenic lethal, and astir 13,270 women successful America volition dice of ovarian crab this twelvemonth — often due to the fact that different forms of the crab are lone diagnosed erstwhile they are overmuch much advanced.