Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

A team of 10 doctors at Wockhardt Hospitals Bangalore led by Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, Minimal Access Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, successfully removed a cancerous tumor involving the abdominal aorta of a 19 year old girl, after a 7 hour long surgery. Saleema (name changed) travelled all the way from Jaipur to undergo the surgery at Wockhardt Hospitals,Bangalore to remove Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour (PNET), a tumor that originates in cells from the Primitive Neural Crest. This cancerous tumor which involving abdominal aorta is a rare case in the medical history and there have been no reports found on such a rare tumor in the medical literature (reference – Cochrane Library –an international medical library, a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organizations).

Most PNET’s occurs in the brain, extremities, pelvis, chest wall and mediastinum. This is the first quoted instance where a PNET was found in the abdomen involving the Bifurcation Abdominal Aorta. Surgical removal is usually a big challenge and it becomes more when it involves big vessels like the aorta – the big vessel which carries purified blood from heart to other organs.

Generally PNET is a rare tumor, usually occurring in children under 10 years old belongs to the Ewing family of tumors.The Ewing family of tumors is a group of cancers that includes Ewing tumor of bone (ETB or Ewing sarcoma of bone), extraosseous Ewing tumors (EOE tumors), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET or peripheral neuroepithelioma), and Askin tumors (PNET of the chest wall). These tumors all come from the same type of stem cell.

During the surgery it was observed that the tumor had spread through the left-ureter, common aorta, bifurcation and the tumor was excised en-bloc along with the aorta.

According to Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, Minimal Access Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, “Most PNET’s occurs in the brain, extremities, pelvis, chest wall and mediastinum. This is the first quoted instance where a PNET was found in the abdomen involving the Bifurcation Abdominal Aorta. Surgical removal is usually a big challenge and it becomes more when it involves big vessels like the aorta – the big vessel which carries purified blood from heart to other organs.”