A Tanzanian doctor said on Friday he had removed a growth six times the weight of an average healthy baby from the uterus of a Comorian woman.

Dr. David Lisasi said 32-year-old Amina Saidi had lived for more than five years with a fibroid in her uterus which grew to 40 pounsd, or two-fifths of her body weight before the two-hour operation.

Uterine fibroids are areas of muscle cells and fibrous connective tissue that develop in or on the uterine wall. The tumors are benign, not associated with cancer and rarely become cancerous.

Showing a soccer-ball sized lump to journalists, Lisasi said an average healthy baby weighs 3 kg. Saidi had not known why her belly was distended, he added.

Comoros islands lie 190 miles off the Tanzania coast. Most of the 585,000 habitants of the impoverished volcanic islands lack access to good health care.