A 71-year-old man who had a tumour said to be the "size of two babies" has had it removed with no remaining signs of cancer. Ian Holden's story features in tonight's final instalment of Channel 4's 'Super Surgeons: A Chance of Life'.
Mr Holden, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, was diagnosed with a rare tumour, retroperitoneal sarcoma, in June 2021 and was told it was inoperable. These tumours develop at the back of the abdomen next to the kidneys.
He sought a second opinion and was referred to Dr Dirk Strauss at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, which runs a specialist cancer treatment centre in London. By this time the tumour had grown to 7.5kg - around 18lbs - and Dr Strauss managed to successfully remove it in a complex surgical procedure.
