A 28kg-tumour was removed from a woman in Germany. The woman was previously diagnosed as merely obese.

Here are five things you need to know about tumours and the German woman's condition:

1. A tumour (also spelled as tumor) is used as a general term for abnormal growth in the body - a group of cells that came together where they shouldn't be present.

2. The presence of a tumour does not always indicate cancer. A tumour can be classified by development level: benign, pre-malignant, or malignant. It can also be free of any cancer-related possibility. In contrast, cancer denotes the presence of malignant tumour.

3. Irmtraud Eichler, 60, had a tumour attached to one of her ovaries. The first doctor she saw only diagnosed her as obese and gave her anti-obesity medicine.

4. Mrs Eichler's daughter was not convinced of the diagnosis because she noted her mother's weight gain had been abnormal, and ergo, alarming. They sought a second opinion, got an ultrasound scan, and the growing tumour (measured 60 centimetres by 50 centimetres) in the ovary was spotted.

5. Mrs Eichler had also lost her uterus, ovaries and thyroid in the process of removing the tumour. The surgery is called a hysterectomy.

Mrs Eichler weighed 40kg lighter after the successful surgery, Daily Mail reported.

Tumours growing in the ovaries or uterus are a matter of serious concern for women. If undetected, abnormal growth of cells could grow undetected up to a massive proportion. One of the worst things that could happen is a young woman could lose her uterus in the process of tumour removal.

Uterine myomectomy and hysterectomy are the two types of tumour removal surgeries in the reproductive system of women. The uterus is preserved in myomectomy.