Woman Lived With Giant 'Breast-Like' Lump On Her Back For 10 Years

Publish date: Friday, 11 Sep 2015, 12:10PM

For 10 years, a 46-year-old woman from Dublin lived with a giant breast-shaped lump on her back.

It was firm to the touch and not painful but grew rapidly over the last three years. But it wasn't until recently she decided to get it checked out.

Doctors suspected the 19cm-long growth was a soft tissue cancer known as a sarcoma.

The woman was a heavy smoker with a history of chronic obstructive airway disease.

But an MRI scan revealed it was actually a giant lipoma, a benign tumour made up of fat cells, according to a British Medical Journal Case Report.

Lipomas are usually small and soft, but can sometimes grow to “impressive” sizes, the case report said.

Report co-author Dr Tunde Abdulsalam told Daily Mail Online:

“It is unusual to let it grow that big. Most patients would have it removed sooner for cosmetic reasons,”

“From my clinical experience, most lipomas are small in size. And most patients frequently leave it alone because it is relatively stable for years and does not affect bodily function. But in some cases, it can increase in size as a person’s BMI increases.”

The woman is reportedly on a waiting list to have the mass removed.

Picture: bmj.com

Story: news.com.au