New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) A 19-month-old boy from Uttar Pradesh underwent a transplant surgery to treat a "rare live cancer" at a hospital here during a nationwide lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday.

Kanha Tiwari was diagnosed with a "very rare malignant liver cancer, hepatoblastoma", occurring in infants and children. Such tumours have a high risk of the cancer spreading beyond the liver rapidly, they said.

The 12-hour transplant surgery was carried out successfully on April 22 and Kanha was discharged within three weeks post-surgery on May 12, doctors at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, said.

"The diagnosis came as a major setback to the parents who had tragically lost their first born to a still birth in 2015. To add to their woes, a grim prognosis by doctors back home and a nation-wide lockdown soon after meant only a task uphill to get better treatment opportunities," the hospital said in a statement.

The team of doctors led by Dr Subhash Gupta, chairman – Centre for Liver & Biliary Sciences, were able to successfully treat and remove the tumour completely, it said.

The hospital said after proper evaluation and complete examination, Kanha was put on chemotherapy immediately in order to shrink the tumour, soon after his parents brought him to the Delhi hospital. The six sessions of chemotherapy worked and his liver transplant was scheduled for April 17, it added.

"Meanwhile, a nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March 25 making the situation for the family even more difficult as they got stuck in Delhi. The condition of Kanha became dangerous as doctors could not wait any longer as the chemotherapy had stopped, and the tumour could recur which would have made the transplant non-viable in such situations. 

"Therefore, the surgery was no more an option but an emergency. Hence, Max Healthcare got special approval from the Liver Transplant Authorisation Committee to conduct the liver transplant as a life-saving procedure," the statement said.

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