Israeli Surgeons 3D-Print a New Pelvis for Teen With Inoperable Tumor

A 15-year-old patient named Mark traveled from Russia to Israel seeking a second opinion on a cancer that global specialists had declared inoperable. The tumor, an aggressive form of osteosarcoma, had spread across his pelvic bones and into his lungs.

After chemotherapy shrank the lung metastases and reduced the primary tumor, a surgical team from Clalit Schneider Children's Medical Center and Clalit-Beilenson Hospital spent hundreds of hours planning a 19-hour procedure. The team removed half of Mark's pelvis and replaced it with a custom 3D-printed implant made of titanium and advanced polymer.

The implant was designed to match Mark's exact anatomy. An advanced polymer layer allows bone to grow into the structure over time. Dr. Arie Greenberg, the orthopedic oncology specialist who led the reconstruction, called the result a quantum leap in surgical oncology. The goal was not just to remove the tumor but to restore mobility.

Mark is now recovering at Clalit-Schneider. The case sets a precedent for using patient-specific 3D-printed implants in complex pelvic reconstructions, especially when standard hardware cannot achieve the required fit or function.