First time cancer surgery conducted successfully at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital

Led by the Hospital's hepatobiliary surgeon and liver cancer team, comprising doctors, anaesthetist and nurses were on their feet throughout the joint procedure – Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC surgery also known as heated or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy,which is the process of heating chemotherapy drugs and delivering them into the abdominal cavity.

This is the first time in Ghana and West Africa that such a rare tumour had been removed through HIPEC.

Hepatobiliary surgeon and liver cancer team at Korle-Bu Pulse Ghana

Dr Asare Offei was the head of the team. Dr Henry Obaka and Dr Fred Osei were the anaesthetists.

Other members include Prince Kwame Amponsah, Ms Regina Hayford, Ms Jemima Akwetey and Kwaku Frimpong – who were the peri-operative nurses.

In a Facebook post on its official page on Monday, June 24, 2019, it announced that "After removing the tumour, which weighed 10 pounds (4.5kg), the 52-year old patient is back on the ward and doing very well."

Hepatobiliary surgeon and liver cancer team at Korle-Bu Pulse Ghana

Know more about Pseudomyxoma Peritonei

Pseudomyxoma peritonei is a rare malignant growth characterized by the progressive accumulation of mucus-secreting (mucinous) tumor cells within the abdomen and pelvis.

The disorder develops after a small growth (polyp) located within the appendix bursts through the wall of the appendix, and spreads mucus-producing tumor cells throughout the surrounding surfaces (e.g., the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity [peritoneum]).

Hepatobiliary surgeon and liver cancer team at Korle-Bu Pulse Ghana

Signs and symptoms

The most common symptoms in individuals with pseudomyxoma peritonei occur due to progressively increasing mucinous tumor within the abdomen and pelvis.