The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsMan Dies After Tapeworm Inside Him Gets Cancer
A Colombian man's lung tumors turned out to have an extremely unusual cause: The rapidly growing masses weren't actually made of human cells, but were from a tapeworm living inside him, according to a report of the case.
This is the first known report of a person becoming sick from cancer cells that developed in a parasite, the researchers said.
"We were amazed when we found this new type of disease tapeworms growing inside a person, essentially getting cancer, that spreads to the person, causing tumors,"
* The 41-year-old man first went to doctors in Colombia after experiencing a fever, cough and weight loss for several months. The man had been diagnosed with HIV more than 10 years earlier, but was not taking his medications.
A CT scan showed tumors in his lung and lymph nodes, but biopsies of these tumors revealed bizarre cells, leading Colombian doctors to contact the CDC for assistance in diagnosing the man.
The cells, when examined under a microscope, acted like cancer cells they multiplied quickly and crowded together. But the cells didn't appear to be human, they were 10 times smaller than human cancer cells."
http://www.livescience.com/52695-tapeworm-cancer.html?
Initech
(100,080 posts)brush
(53,785 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)nilram
(2,888 posts)Joe Shlabotnik
(5,604 posts)I'll remember you Tapey.