In a major medical achievement in Israel, a multidisciplinary team of surgeons from Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Clalit-Beilinson Hospital has successfully performed an unprecedented operation on a complex tumour previously considered inoperable.
The 19-hour procedure involved replacing half of a 15-year-old patient’s pelvis with a custom-designed implant made from 3D-printed titanium and an advanced polymer. The hospitals are flagship institutions of Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare organisation.
The patient, Mark, travelled to Israel from Russia seeking advanced treatment options. He was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of two and had previously overcome the disease.
At 14, however, he developed a severe recurrence in the form of osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer, in the pelvic region. The disease had also spread to his lungs.
Because the tumour had spread extensively across several pelvic bones and was located in a particularly challenging area, leading specialists around the world initially considered it inoperable. Complete surgical removal is crucial for survival in osteosarcoma cases.
Mark’s mother brought him to Clalit-Schneider in Israel, seeking another treatment option. Following targeted chemotherapy led by Dr Orli Michaeli, a paediatric haematology-oncology specialist, the lung metastases cleared and the primary tumour shrank. However, the complexity of removing the tumour while preserving enough of the pelvis for the teenager to function remained a major surgical challenge.
Refusing to accept the “inoperable” diagnosis, a joint team of surgical specialists from Clalit-Schneider and Clalit-Beilinson mobilised to develop an alternative approach. After hundreds of hours of detailed digital planning, the team carried out the operation, successfully removing half of the pelvis and replacing it with a pioneering 3D-printed implant designed specifically for Mark’s anatomy.
“This was one of the most complex and challenging cases we have ever encountered,” said Dr Israel Weiss, Head of the Orthopaedic Oncology Unit at Clalit-Schneider and Clalit-Beilinson. “Instead of accepting that the tumour was inoperable, our cross-institutional teams combined custom 3D design and advanced printing technology to open a new horizon of possibilities. This breakthrough showcases the power of integrated expertise across our network.”
Dr Weiss highlighted the vital collaboration between key surgical leaders, including Dr Eviatar Nesher, Head of the Transplantation Department at Clalit-Beilinson, and Professor Yona Kosashvili, Head of the Orthopaedic Department at Clalit-Beilinson.
“The goal was not just to remove the tumour, but to restore mobility,” explained Dr Arie Greenberg, Specialist in Joint Replacement and Orthopaedic Oncology at Clalit-Beilinson. “We designed a custom implant using an advanced polymer that allows bone growth into the structure, matching his exact anatomy. It represents a quantum leap in surgical oncology.”
Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer in children and adolescents, although pelvic involvement is less common and particularly difficult to treat. Pelvic osteosarcoma accounts for roughly 7%–10% of cases and has historically been associated with poorer outcomes than tumours affecting the limbs. This is partly due to the complex anatomy and the difficulty of achieving complete tumour removal while preserving function. Advances in imaging, chemotherapy, and custom reconstruction techniques have improved prospects for limb-sparing surgery in recent years.
Custom 3D-printed implants have emerged as an important option for reconstructing large pelvic defects after tumour removal. These patient-specific devices can match individual anatomy more closely than standard prostheses and often incorporate porous structures designed to encourage bone ingrowth. Studies of custom 3D-printed titanium pelvic implants have reported high implant retention rates in complex reconstructions, supporting their growing role in orthopaedic oncology when conventional options are limited.
The procedure builds on the hospitals’ expanding use of advanced manufacturing for complex cancer cases. Combining titanium for structural strength with an advanced polymer designed to support bone integration aims to provide both immediate stability and longer-term biological incorporation.
Mark is currently recovering at Clalit-Schneider, where he is undergoing rehabilitation while his medical team closely monitors his progress towards recovery.
The successful removal of a tumour previously considered inoperable, combined with the restoration of pelvic continuity using a precisely engineered implant, represents a significant step in the use of personalised 3D-printing technology in paediatric orthopaedic oncology in Israel.