A surgeon has removed a tumour from a man’s liver that weighed as much as a bag of sugar.
Barrie Tibbetts, 67, would have died without the lifesaving surgery to remove the tumour.
The 15cm hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumour, weighing 2kg, is the largest that Mater Private Hospital Brisbane liver surgeon Dr Joel Lewin has removed from a patient at the hospital.
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Dr Lewin said he would have died within months without the six-hour surgery.
Tibbetts was diagnosed after a routine visit to his GP Kerrie Hulett, who found abnormal liver function results.
He had no symptoms.
Tibbetts, from Birkdale, said he was “shocked” when his doctor revealed he had an aggressive cancer growing in his liver.
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“I was non symptomatic, I couldn’t believe it,” Tibbetts said.
“I had more scans just before having surgery and the mass had become so large it was creeping up into my diaphragm.”
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HCC only affects about five in every 100,000 people, but rates of the disease have increased in recent years.
The “delicate” operation on Mr Tibbetts took almost six hours at Mater Private Hospital Brisbane in July.
“The tumour occupied the majority of the right side of the liver, making surgical resection challenging,” Dr Lewin said.
He said that although these kinds of liver resections could be performed via keyhole surgery, Mr Tibbetts’ case required an open approach due to the size of the tumour.
He is doing well, three months on.
Tibbetts is now looking forward to travelling around Australia with his wife Leslie in a new camper van.
“After getting the good news just a few weeks ago, we thought this would be a nice way to celebrate,” he said.
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