• Bone cancer: worldwide prevalence of 3 – 4 cases in a million per year
• Highly complicated and rare surgery performed over 6 hours to save Afghani man from rare case of osteosarcoma
• Afghani man walks with metallic thigh after removal of tumour of the thigh bone

A 1.25 kg tumour in the thigh bone formed a life-threatening risk for Mr Sayed Mahmood Sadat, Age – 42 Years. The huge malignant tumour was life threatening and needed treatment, but things seemed to only deteriorate even after 3 chemo sessions. The only option that was suggested to him was amputation of the leg, which he could not just accept. He had faith in the developments of the healthcare sector which brought him to India. After meeting Dr Aashish Chaudhry, Managing Director and Sr. Consultant – Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka and Dr Arun Giri, Head of Surgical Oncology, Aakash Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka for the consultation session he got a ray of hope to get rid of the humongous malignant tumour in his thigh, without having to get his leg amputated.

Mr Sayed Mahmood Sadat, is the only bread earner for his family and extremely disheartened to know that the ordinary looking bulge in his thigh was detrimental for his life and was actually a rare case of bone cancer. The most disturbing thing for him and his family was when they were told that they had no other treatment option than amputation of the entire leg to save his life. This was a devastating news for the entire family. However, he did not lose hope on the possibilities and advancements in medical technology and clinical excellence. This is when he came across Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka and learned about Dr Aashish and his team’s excellent success rate with the rarest and impossible cases. This was a relief to him and his family after getting to know amputation was no longer required in order to get rid of the deadly cancer. The treatment procedure involved removal of his femur and replacing it with an implant made of alloy for him to walk normally.

Being the only bread earner for his family, he was already undergoing challenges both mentally and financially due to the osteosarcoma in his thigh. This assurance was all he wanted to proceed with the treatment process. Meanwhile, a team of doctors led by both the experts was having their own set of challenges to determine the treatment process, as it was an exceptionally challenging case. Finally, the method that they chose was a rare method in which the hip joint, the thigh bone and the knee joint were all replaced with customised metallic parts. The process itself had major chances of complications. However, Mr. Sayed Mahmood Sadat was lucky to have recovered after the surgery.

According to a study conducted in 2016 by The South Asia Journal of Cancer, the occurrence of bone cancer in India is less than 0.2% of all cancer cases, and prevalence of the cancer in femur is even less. Whereas, globally only 3.4 out of a million cancer cases  are of osteosarcoma. Having such a rare incidence rate the treatment options available are also limited. Though this was a challenge for the doctors, they opted to replace the femur bone instead of cutting the entire leg. Total femur replacement for oncological reasons, though is not something unknown to the medical industry, but it is a highly challenging and rare practice. The entire hip-joint, femur, and knee joint was replaced with artificial implants.

Mr Sayed Mahmood Sadat, got emotional while sharing his journey through the disease, and said “I almost lost hope on being able to walk on my own legs normally. The worst was when they told me that my leg needs to get removed to save my life. Being the only working member of my family, it was no less than a nightmare knowing that there are no options except amputation of the leg, as that would mean that I would be leading a physically disabled life after the surgery. I was not ready to accept this as my fate and thankfully I visited India for a second opinion. Whatever happened after that was like a miracle to me as I can walk like before on my own legs and work like before. I am extremely thankful to Dr Aashish Chaudhry and his team for taking up my case and treating me.”

Recalling the entire case Dr Aashish Chaudhry said, “we knew we could do it and replace the thigh bone with an implant. However, the size of the tumour was a great challenge and most importantly, such a surgery is not much in records due to rarity of such a case. Along with this there were other risk factors involved such as excessive blood loss and heart issues may arise in the patient. After a thorough check up we strategized the entire plan of the treatment for Mr Sayed Mahmood Sadat. Nevertheless, we were determined to bring his life back to something nearest to normalcy. The procedure was extremely strenuous and took almost 6 hours to remove the hip joint, femur, knee joint and then replace them with metal implants, which were in a way specially designed for this case only.”