Jump directly to the content
‘I gave birth to my tumour’

Woman who thought she was pregnant devastated to discover her ‘baby’ was cancerous tissue

A YOUNG woman who thought she was pregnant was devastated to discover her ‘baby’ was actually a cancerous tumour – that she was forced to give birth to.

Alice Hall, 20, felt nauseous in June 2016 when she decided to do a pregnancy test.  A visit to her doctor confirmed she was four weeks “gone”.

 Alice Hall and her boyfriend Christopher Tolles were shocked but thrilled when they thought they were expecting a baby
2
Alice Hall and her boyfriend Christopher Tolles were shocked but thrilled when they thought they were expecting a babyCredit: Sunday Mirror

Despite her initial shock,  Alice and Christopher Tolles, 24, her boyfriend of nine months, were “thrilled” at the prospect of becoming parents.

But, eight weeks into the pregnancy, Alice started bleeding and was rushed to Hereford County Hospital for a scan.

Heartbreakingly, medics told me I was having a miscarriage,” she told Sunday Mirror.

“But a pregnancy test confirmed I was still pregnant, because my uterus thought there was a baby in there as my body was mimicking the symptoms of pregnancy.”

 Alice was taken to Hereford County Hospital and had to ‘give birth’ to the tumour, which weighed around one pound
2
Alice was taken to Hereford County Hospital and had to ‘give birth’ to the tumour, which weighed around one poundCredit: Sunday Mirror

Alice was sent home but a week later returned to hospital after suffering agonising pains.

Medics thought she was having an ectopic pregnancy - where the foetus grows inside the Fallopian tube instead of the womb – so she underwent a keyhole laparoscopy.

“It showed there was swelling in my womb but doctors had no idea what it could be – but knew it was not a viable pregnancy,” she told Sunday Mirror.

Alice, who “cried for the baby I’d lost”, then had the pregnancy tissue removed from her womb.

Two days after she had a blood test that showed her hormone levels had dropped.

However, two days later, Alice did another pregnancy test that came up positive.

Fearing that something more serious was happening, Alice was referred to Charing Cross Hospital.

She was diagnosed with gestational tropho-blastic neoplasia (GTN), which had caused a tumour to grow her womb.

What is gestational tropho-blastic neoplasia?

  • Gestational trophoblastic tumour, a rare cancer in women, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells grow in the tissues that are formed following conception (the joining of sperm and egg).
  • Gestational trophoblastic tumours start inside the uterus, the hollow, muscular, pear-shaped organ where a baby grows.
  • This type of cancer occurs in women during the years when they are able to have children.
  • There are two types of gestational trophoblastic tumours: hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma.
  • If a patient has a hydatidiform mole (also called a molar pregnancy), the sperm and egg cells have joined without the development of a baby in the uterus.
  • Instead, the tissue that is formed resembles grape-like cysts.
  • Hydatidiform mole does not spread outside of the uterus to other parts of the body.
  • If a patient has a choriocarcinoma, the tumour may have started from a hydatidiform mole or from tissue that remains in the uterus following an abortion or delivery of a baby.
  • Choriocarcinoma can spread from the uterus to other parts of the body.
  • A very rare type of gestational trophoblastic tumour starts in the uterus where the placenta was attached.
  • This type of cancer is called placental-site trophoblastic disease.
  • Gestational trophoblastic tumour is not always easy to find.
  • In its early stages, it may look like a normal pregnancy.
  • A doctor should be seen if the there is vaginal bleeding (not menstrual bleeding) and if a woman is pregnant and the baby hasn’t moved at the expected time.
  • If there are symptoms, a doctor may use several tests to see if the patient has a gestational trophoblastic tumour.

Medics removed the womb tissue and a biopsy confirmed that it was cancerous.

The condition is incredibly rare and is only treated by two hospitals in the UK.

In July 2016, Alice underwent tests that showed a cancerous tumour the size of a foetus was in her uterus.

Doctors couldn't operate on it as there was a large blood vessel running into it which, if cut, could cause her to die of blood loss.

“My mind went into meltdown,” she told Sunday Mirror.

“I went from being overjoyed and planning to welcome a baby into the world, to instead doctors telling me that I had a tumour and if they tried to cut it out I would bleed to death."

Alice underwent eight sessions of low-dose chemotherapy which stopped the tumour from growing.

But one morning in September she woke up with agonising pains.

Alice called her doctor who confirmed she was effectively in labour.

She was taken to Hereford County Hospital and had to ‘give birth’ to the tumour, which weighed around one pound.

“It was really traumatic. First, I was in a side room of A&E and then had to be taken to the women’s ward where heavily pregnant women ready to give birth were. It was heartbreaking,” she told Sunday Mirror.

“After 30 hours I expelled the tumour on the toilet. It was such a traumatic experience."

In December she was give the "all-clear" and is now in remission.

Alice hopes that she and partner Christopher can start a family in the "near future".