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A medical team at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh removed a cancerous tumor using an advanced pharyngeal endoscopy for a 70-year-old Saudi male suffering from first-degree stomach cancer in the area linking the esophagus and the stomach, as well as the top part of the stomach.

Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Aburahmah, a Consultant, GI Oncology Surgery, obesity and laparoscopy at King Faisal Specialised Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, said that the use of the pharyngeal endoscopy enabled him to eradicate the cancerous tumor and remove it through the mouth without the need to the conventional method which is resecting the lower third of the esophagus and remove lymph nodes surrounding the stomach and complete resection of the stomach.

He pointed to the first use of pharyngeal endoscopy to deal with such cases in East Asia and Japan in particular due to their extensive experience and the spread of stomach cancer in their regions which made it limited to certain centres around the world. This method is however considered to be one of the advanced medical methods used by King Faisal Hospital and Research Centre.  

The lack of stomach cancer cases in the Kingdom, he added, requires great skills and experience from the surgeon as well as an intensive training on using the pharyngeal endoscopy continuously in order to be well prepared at all times.

Dr. Aburahmah stated that the pharyngeal endoscopy operation took 6 hours and reduced the patient’s time at the hospital to just two days after the operation, allowing him to go back to eating normally especially that esophagus and stomach functions are not affected by this modern procedure. The tumor has completely been eradicated and there is no need to carry out any surgical intervention, chemotherapy or radiation therapy.