Teenage girl successfully treated for rare bone cancer at American Oncology Institute

Teenage girl successfully treated for rare bone cancer at American Oncology Institute

An 18-year-old girl hailing from Mangalagiri was successfully treated for a rare form of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, at American Oncology Institute (AOI), Mangalagiri.

A statement released on Thursday (December 26) said the girl approached the hospital with swelling and discharging sinus in the left gluteal region (buttock), which was diagnosed as extraosseous osteosarcoma, a rare variant that affects less than 4% of osteosarcoma cases worldwide.

The statement said the multidisciplinary tumor board at AOI, Mangalagiri coordinated a comprehensive treatment plan for the patient. Medical oncologist N. Subba Rao initiated neoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before a surgery and Surgical oncologist Eshant Inapuri removed the tumour by cutting out a wide area around it to ensure that no cancer cells were left behind.

After removing the tumour, he used a special technique to close the surgical wound by taking tissues from another part of the body (thigh) and rotating it to cover the area from where the tumour was removed.

This helped heal the wound and restore the area’s appearance and function, said the statement, adding that post-surgery, the girl‘s recovery was smooth and she was discharged on the fifth day after the surgery.

Doctors at the hospital said the girl was able to walk normally and that her follow-up care has been without any complications. They said the patient was continuing adjuvant chemotherapy for her complete recovery.