Doctors at a city hospital performed a surgery on a six-year-old girl suffering from a rare malignant tumour, offering her a fresh lease of life.
The patient, a resident of Faridabad, was suffering from mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a tumour that usually occurs in the salivary glands.
She had swelling in the left cheek near the ear, for which she underwent biopsy in a government hospital. She was then referred to Sarvodaya Hospital.
As the tumour was very rare in this age group doctors reconfirmed the biopsy twice, with the same result.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma can mimic most other tumours of the glands. The team of doctors had a detailed discussion with the girl's parents and explained that she would have to undergo surgery where whole of the parotid along with the neck nodes would be removed.
"There was a high chance of facial nerve damage in such complicated cases. With advancement in technologies and availability of safer and state-of-the-art treatment, we could save the child," said Shivam Vatsal, Consultant, Department of Cancer Care.
During surgery, it was found that tumour was present in the deep lobe of parotid, and the doctors did a total nerve preserving parotidectomy with left neck dissection without sacrificing the facial nerves.
The girl recovered well after the surgery and was discharged on the fourth day.
Sumant Gupta, Senior Consultant, Department of Cancer Care, said, "The patient is now absolutely fine but she would require local radiation as an adjuvant treatment to further reduce chances of recurrence."
He said this was a message for all parents who thought that cancer at such a young age was incurable.
Epithelial salivary gland neoplasms are rare both in adults and children, accounting for less than three per cent of all head and neck tumours. Five per cent of these tumours occur in patients younger than 18 years old with girls mostly affected, he said.
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