The tumor had swelled from the size of a
cherry tomato to that of a melon over the course of seven months.
Doctors removed a cantaloupe-size tumor from
a man's neck that was threatening to suffocate the patient, according to news
reports.
The cancerous mass measured 9 inches (23
centimeters) across and weighed between 5 and 7 lbs. (about 3 kilograms),
several outlets reported.
The man, 81-year-old Milton Wingert, had been
diagnosed with a soft-tissue cancer called pleomorphic sarcoma in May,
according to the Daily Mail. This type of cancer can develop in blood vessels
as well as in deep skin, fat, muscle or nerve tissue, according to the Mayo
Clinic. It is known for growing rapidly, usually in one part of the body,
although it can spread to other locations.
At the time of the man's diagnosis, the tumor
on his neck looked to be about the size of a large cherry tomato, still small
enough for Wingert to conceal with a handkerchief. Over the next month, the
mass swelled to the size of an apple, so Wingert visited a doctor about having
the tumor removed.
The first surgeon deemed the surgery to be
too risky, so Wingert sought help at a second hospital a month later, only to
hear the same prognosis. The tumor had grown around the man's carotid artery,
which supplies blood to the brain, neck and face; and both surgeons worried
that removing the mass might sever the key blood vessel.
"I kept seeing different doctors and
going to different hospitals, and it kept growing and growing and getting
bigger and bigger," Wingert told the New York Post. "I was getting
worried, wondering when I was going to get that operation." The tumor grew
steadily, soon taking on the girth of a small melon.
Finally, earlier this month, Wingert was
referred to Dr. Nazir Kahn, a head and neck surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in
New York. Kahn worried that, should the tumor grow any larger, Wingert might
suffocate. "It was the largest [tumor] I've ever operated on," Khan
told the New York Post. He took the case and scheduled the surgery.
The procedure took place Nov. 5 and took
about 7 hours to complete, which was actually faster than expected, Khan told
CNN. The surgeons had not had to reconstruct regions of Wingert's neck, as they
expected they might have to, he explained. Wingert is now recovering at home
and is expected to undergo further cancer treatment in the next few months,
according to the Daily Mail.
"I know that he's going to need further
therapy, and so my training has made me cautiously optimistic in a way, because
I know he still has a road to go," Kahn told CNN. "But, you know, I'm
happy for him, because I know that he was very scared before the surgery … and
he did well."
Wingert himself seems optimistic and gave his
doctors a big thumbs-up following the operation.
"I'm going to celebrate my 82nd
birthday" later this month, Wingert told the New York Post. "It's a
miracle."
Originally published on Live Science.
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