Woman Battling Complex Type Of Cancer Undergoes 5th Surgery At Bhubaneswar’s SUM

Bhubaneswar: A female patient suffering from a complex form of cancer underwent surgery for the fifth time at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here recently.

The 38-year-old patient, who has been battling Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma, is recovering well post her latest surgery.

Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma is notorious for its recurrent nature, and can’t be treated with chemo therapy or radiation therapy. According to, Prof. (Dr) Prakash Kumar Sahoo, Professor of Surgery in SUM, said that the only way to deal with the disease is through surgery.

The patient had visited the hospital for the first time in August 2012 with a large abdominal swelling and pain. After a CT scan revealed that the woman was carrying a huge tumour, she underwent surgery to have it removed.

Once the tumour, weighing as much as 15 kg, was removed from her abdomen, biopsy confirmed it to be a case of Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma, Prof. (Dr) Sahoo said.

The patient returned to the hospital after in 2016 with the same complaint and a 10.5 kg tumour was removed. With the tumour adhering to the uterus, the surgical team had to remove the uterus and ovaries as well.

She next came to the hospital in 2020, when a tumour weighing 7.5 kg was removed.

The was back for treatment in 2022 and underwent surgery for removal of another tumour, weighing 5 kg, informed Prof. (Dr) Sahoo, who led the surgical team.

“She came again last month after a gap of one year and yet another operation had to be done. This time, however, multiple tumours, though relatively small in size compared to the previous occasions, were found to be strewn around different places of the abdominal cavity,” Prof. Sahoo said.

The patient was kept in ICU for three days and is now ready to be discharged.

Besides Prof. (Dr) Sahoo apart, other members of the team included Dr Suman Sourav Rout, Dr Sagar Naik and Dr Shlok Jaiswal. The anesthesia team comprised Prof. (Dr) Saswat Patnaik, Prof. (Dr) Soumya Samal and Dr Sibasis Das, while the OT staff members were Sangram Behera, Sagarika Jena and Manasi Ojha.

Prof. (Dr) Satya Mohapatra of the Department of Radiology was instrumental in providing accurate diagnosis of the patient’s medical condition through CT scan every time before surgery, while the pathology team headed by Prof. (Dr) Debahuti Mohapatra confirmed it as Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma after studying the biopsy report, Prof. (Dr) Sahoo said while thanking Dean of IMS and SUM Hospital Prof. (Dr) Sanghamitra Mishra and Medical Superintendent Prof. (Dr) Pusparaj Samantasinhar for their support.

The patient’s husband Girija Mohan Dani thanked the hospital management and medical team for successfully conducting surgery every time at minimal cost.

Prof. (Dr) Sahoo said the patient was very brave and mentally strong. “We found her to be an optimistic person and very positive about life,” he said.