Indian woman lived with tumour for 50 years

A woman lived with a tumour on her head for fifty years, which grew into a cyst the size of a small bag.

The 52-year-old woman from Bengaluru, India, had this massive growth since childhood. She sought medical help last year, and doctors were astonished by their findings.

At the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, the tumour measured nearly six inches long, four inches wide, and almost five inches high when she arrived. Despite its size, the cyst was entirely painless, which partly explained why she hadn’t seen a doctor earlier.

Doctors found dozens of keratin balls, resembling marbles, inside the growth hidden behind her hair at the back of her scalp. Initially, it could be mistaken for a hair bun.

During surgery, as detailed in the Radiology Journal, doctors noted the presence of fluid, hair, and fat within the cyst. They described mature cystic teratomas as typically found in gonadal tissues and the head and neck region, particularly in the orbit and scalp.

The ‘marbles’ were spherical aggregates of keratin, fat, sebaceous material, fibrin, and hair floating within the cyst’s fluid matrix. Though rare, the ‘sack of marbles’ sign is considered diagnostic of mature cystic teratomas in the head and neck.

After opening the tumour, doctors took a photograph of the inside. The image showed sebum-like material, hard spherical nodules, and hair strands within the cyst.

Despite its large and unusual appearance, the growth was not cancerous. Such cysts develop from embryonic cells and can contain hair, fluid, teeth, or skin glands. Six months after the surgery, the cyst had not grown back.

Histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of a mature cystic teratoma, containing elements from all three germ layers, with no recurrence after six months of follow-up. The reasons behind such cases remain a mystery to doctors.