In a groundbreaking medical procedure, doctors at the Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology in Moscow have performed a hemicorporectomy—a radical and rarely attempted operation—to save the life of a 43-year-old man suffering from advanced skin cancer.
The patient, Sergey Filimonenkov from the town of Vyazma in the Smolensk region, had spent over two decades in a wheelchair following a car accident. In 2024, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of squamous cell carcinoma that had spread throughout his lower back and pelvic region.
Surgeons performed the 12-hour operation to remove his lower body, including the pelvis and both legs. According to Dr. Renat Valiev, head of orthopedic oncology at the center, this was the only chance to save the patient’s life.
“Hemicorporectomy was the only viable option. Such an operation has been performed only once before in Russia. Globally, there are fewer than 80 known cases, and most of them remain poorly documented,” said Dr. Valiev.
Despite the drastic nature of the surgery, the patient made a successful initial recovery and was discharged three weeks later to return home to Vyazma.
Hemicorporectomy involves the surgical removal of the pelvis and lower extremities. Due to its extremely invasive nature and the immense post-operative demands, it is rarely attempted even in severe oncological cases.
Earlier this year, in January 2025, surgeons in the Moscow region also removed a large benign tumor weighing 1.5 kilograms from the back of a man’s neck. Though not life-threatening, the tumor caused significant discomfort and restricted head movement. The two-hour operation was successful, and the patient recovered well.
