Apollo Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad, has performed a rare and complicated surgery on a patient suffering from Osteosarcoma - limb bone tumor- for the first time in Andhra Pradesh. The surgery involved implantation of a prosthesis developed for the first time in the country by Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani), a government of India Enterprise, Ministry of Defence. This surgery was performed on Vijay, an eighteen-year-old.

This boy was brought to Apollo Cancer Hospital with symptoms of pain and swelling in the right lower limb. The team of doctors at Apollo Cancer Hospital comprising of Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, director, Apollo Cancer Hospital and consultant clinical oncologist & radiation therapist, Dr Somasekhar Reddy, consultant orthopaedic surgeon and Dr TPS Bhandari, consultant surgical oncologist diagnosed the problem as bone cancer.

The standard treatment adopted for Osteosarcoma is amputation of the limb to limit the spread of the cancer. However, the doctors at Apollo Cancer Hospital focused on organ and functional preservation through limb-salvage surgery spanning over eleven hours. The surgery-involved implantation of prosthesis - a metal bone and joint, in the area where the cancer affected bone was removed.

The major component of the treatment cost involves the cost of imported prosthesis, which is around Rs.1.3 lakh. The team of doctors explored the possibility of manufacturing the prosthesis within India and approached the Biomedical Division of Midhani.

The Midhani team aided by the Apollo doctors, designed and developed this indigenous prosthesis - Apollo-Midhani Prosthesis, customized for the patient and at a fraction of the cost of the imported prosthesis at Rs.26,000. This brought down the cost of treatment drastically by over one lakh rupees. The patient who belonged to a poor family was extended treatment including surgery, prosthesis and several sittings of chemotherapy at the Apollo Cancer Hospital free of cost by the Cure Foundation - a not for profit organization, working towards aiding less fortunate cancer patients.

The patient has fully recovered from the treatment. The team at Apollo Cancer Hospital has been successful in terms of preserving the leg and its mobility. With intensive physiotherapy, the patient is in a position to walk on his own within two weeks of the surgery and is ready for discharge from the hospital.