Leeds, December 10 -- Two sisters of Indian origin, Ravindra Singh, 29, and Meeta Singh, 25, can eat only small amounts of food at a time, for they have no stomach.

The sisters have had their stomachs removed because they had the risk of dying from gastric [related to the stomach] cancer [abnormal cells that divide without control, which can invade nearby tissues or spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. ] . But they don’t regret it, and say it’s a small price to pay for freedom from cancer.

They had 80 percent chances of dying from the rare and dangerous cancer.

The sisters had inherited the defective gene called E-cadherin (CDH1) from their father who died of gastric cancer at the age of 45 in 1995.

Ravindra’s cancer diagnosis and surgery.

Early this year in April, medical reports of both the sisters revealed that both of them had the cancer causing E-cadherin (CDH1) gene in their stomach.

In June, a biopsy report of Ravindra, a recruitment consultant in Manchester, found that she had developed early stages of gastric cancer.

Henceforth, she decided to get her malignant organ removed as a precautionary step.

Doctors at the Nuffield Hospital in Leeds removed her stomach as well as the surrounding lymph nodes [small glands clustered in the neck, armpits, abdomen, and groin that supply infection-fighting cells to the bloodstream and filter out bacteria and other antigens.] in June.

Meeta also had a surgery at the St James’s Teaching.

Hospital in Leeds this Monday, though she had not developed the cancer.

According to doctors, the sisters would continue living a normal life. However, they can only eat small amounts of meals equivalent to 10 teaspoons at a time. Due to the surgery, they might lose 20 percent of their body weight, they said.

Hospital consultant Simon Dexter said, "There are only a very small number of families with this gene. It's very rare and dangerous. You can manage very well with no stomach and the sisters will live perfectly normal lives.”

Sisters on their diagnosis and treatment

Meeta, who lives with her mother in Birkenhead and is pursuing master’s in forensic psychology, said, “Ravindra didn’t want the problem hanging over her, and because there was a very high possibility of cancer she had the operation.

“At that time I was more focused on my sister but then as soon as she was OK it dawned on me that I could be next. I was quite reluctant at first but I decided I would rather have the surgery as a precautionary measure.”

Ravindra said, “I’m coping a lot better than I was at first but I still have off days and my energy levels are quite low sometimes.

“It’s just become a new kind of normal for me. The operation was definitely the right thing to do.”