Bone Cancer Victim Receives World's First Ever Titanium Pelvis Transplant

Surgeons at Turin's university hospital center have successfully replaced a bone cancer victim's half pelvis with a titanium transplant. The 18-year-old Italian teenager had been undergoing chemotherapy for a pelvic osteosarcoma, or tumor, for the last year but his surgeons decided more radical treatment was necessary to ensure his recovery.

In an 11.5-hour operation, the surgeons removed half the patient's pelvis along with part of his hip affected by the cancer, replacing them with a prosthetic made in the United States from titanium covered in tantalum, a non-corrosive metal mainly used in electronic components.

The hospital said in a statement, "The operation had an excellent outcome and the patient is now undergoing intensive therapy to help him adapt to his new pelvis."

Source-Medindia