A tumour weighing almost six stone (1 stone = about 6.35 kg) has been removed from a woman's stomach in the Czech Republic, Daily Mail reports.

The tumor had been growing inside the woman's stomach for years because she was too scared to visit a doctor.

Despite the 47-year-old woman's stomach swelling to almost 20 times its usual size, she didn't seek help until the tumour left her bedridden.

The woman underwent a life-saving operation to have the malignant tumour removed at Zlin Regional Hospital, in Zlin, last month.

It took surgeons more than seven hours to remove the growth which measured more than one metre in circumference.

During the operation she had to be given 20 blood transfusions.

Zdenek Adamik, head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the hospital, said doctors were baffled as to why the woman had not sought help earlier.

He said: ‘The patient weighed 117 kilos before the operation and now she weighs 51 kilos.

It is not yet known whether the woman will make a full recovery.

Doctors are continuing to monitor her condition following the operation.