Giant tumor removed from Peruvian woman

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A woman in Peru has a gigantic tumour -- large enough to make her appear pregnant with twins -- removed from her abdomen after more than eight years of having to live with it.

PERU (REUTERS) - Irianita Rojas Rasma may look pregnant, but she's not.

The 22-year-old from Loreto, Peru was living with a massive tumor in her abdomen. It had been growing the for more than eight years.

But this week, she finally went under the knife to have it removed - all 16kg of it.

Her surgeons say the tumor began in her ovaries but grew so big it affected her ability to sleep, to lie down, even to breathe.

"It's as if she were pregnant, but twice the size. You saw the patient before the operation, it was immense." said Luis Garcia, Chief of the Arzobispo Loayza National Hospital.

But what a difference 16kg makes.

"I couldn't work or study with the tumor. I just stayed at home." said Ms Rojas.

But now Irianita says she's ready to start a new life, 16kg lighter, and tumor free.

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