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Smartphones won’t make you grow horns—but neglecting a worsening skin cancer lesion for years could do the trick.
Recently, doctors in the UK surgically removed a 14cm-long “dragon horn” from a man’s lower back. The 50-year-old patient reported that it had been growing for at least three years. The doctors determined that the “gigantic” skin growth was a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC)—a type of skin cancer that causes growing, scaly bumps on the top layer of skin.
While SCC is a very common type of skin cancer, the man’s case is rare, the doctors report in the journal BMJ Case Reports this week. Such lesions are typically caught much earlier. But in this case, doctors found “an extremely large well-differentiated SCC that was neglected by a patient,” even though he was “living in a developed country with access to free healthcare.”
“This highlights that despite current public skin cancer awareness and rigorous healthcare measures, cases like this can still arise and slip through the net,” they conclude.
Cases of SCC are typically seen in those with light skin, who have a lot of sun exposure, are older, have a weakened immune system, or have had certain chemical exposures, such as arsenic. In this case, the man was a light-skinned manual laborer, but he reported no other clear risk factors. He had no significant sun exposure, no personal or family history of skin cancers, and was not immunosuppressed. Also unusual, his lymph nodes weren’t swollen—a common, nonspecific sign that the body is fighting off an infection or disease, such as skin cancer.
Journal Reference:
Agata Marta Plonczak, Ramy Aly, Hrsikesa Sharma, Anca Breahna. ‘Dragon horn SCC’, BMJ Case Reports CP (DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2019-233305)
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @03:11PM (12 children)
Skin cancers have been rising dramatically because people trusted the medical industry and wore narrow spectrum sunscreen for decades. It only blocked UVB radiation that reduced sunburn, which was the body's warning to get out of the sun and way of cleaning up the damaged tissue. That left UVA to continue damaging the skin hidden to the unsuspecting person.
There has still not been any kind of responsibility taken for this error, but here they are lecturing us to come pay them for their help and advice.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231499 [nih.gov]
Seriously, these are some of the most weasely disgusting people. Take responsibility for the epidemic you caused!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @03:23PM
Melanoma too:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @03:51PM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694089/ [nih.gov]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:16PM (1 child)
Be that as it may, it's not generally a good idea to just let some random growth continue to grow on you. Certainly, not to the degree that this person went without seeing someone about it.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Friday January 10 2020, @04:38PM
If he lived in India he could make a tidy living as a reincarnation of a Hindu god.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:30PM
https://www.rmsunscreen.com/productspecs.aspx [rmsunscreen.com]
So, you want Zinc Oxide?
Anyway, the best way not to die of this is to monitor yourself. As for sunscreen types, best to not wear any and just not get burnt. Sunscreen usage is for emergencies, not for daily usage.
(Score: 3, Informative) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:59PM (6 children)
It isn't as if these people were trying to inflict the world with cancer, and it isn't as if they were pushing only using narrow spectrum sunscreen. As long as I can remember the advice was to avoid prolonged exposure, cover up, and use sunscreen liberally. Adding that the sunscreen should be broad spectrum is certainly useful advice, but the advice was never to bask in the sun as much as possible wearing nothing but narrow spectrum sunscreen.
Anecdotally, I can't remember the last time one of the high proof sunscreens I personally use didn't brag about being broad spectrum. I have to wonder what effect commercial availability and user preference has on this epidemic, would blaming manufacturers for pushing a substandard product, or users for choosing an inferior product make sense?
The issue with this line of reasoning is that it vilifies incremental improvement in medicine or science in general. I would rather enjoy the benefits of the slow and steady progress of science than focus on retribution for any missteps along the way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @05:25PM
If you don't hold people responsible for giving you diseases then they will continue to do so. It is pure natural selection.
I have no idea why people are such apologists for the medical industry. They are not your friend. They are looking to make money and/or get fame and influence.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @05:28PM (4 children)
This guy staked his reputation on an early polio vaccine he was warned was contaminated:
https://www.nytimes.com/1955/05/05/archives/bulbar-polio-kills-doctors-grandson.html [nytimes.com]
Then his granddaughter was paralyzed and his grandson died, later a bunch of other children died or became paralyzed. Guess what? He suffered no loss of reputation at all. In fact there are hospitals all over named after him
If there are no negative impacts from poor judgement then the worst type of people will rise to power. This has been going on in medicine for too long.
(Score: 5, Informative) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 09 2020, @06:54PM (3 children)
This is literally a chapter in the greatest success story in medicine, you couldn't find a better counter example to your own point. Yes, there was a contaminated batch in the 1950s (can't read the paywalled article, but it is well documented), but the vaccine worked, the solution was correct. And once ID'ed the bad batch was pulled and new safety practiced put in place. The result here wasn't "the worst type of people ... rise to power", it was we fucking beat a horrible disease, and have a safer inoculation program on the whole.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @07:13PM (2 children)
This is not what happened at all. It was ID'd then they attempted a cover up, then publicity stunts like what this doctor did, then they finally had to pull it. And they got away with it too.
There is no one held responsible when they fuck up but massive profit when it works out.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:40PM (1 child)
Again, I can't read the NYT paywalled article, but that summary doesn't match the sources I can find.
Here is the wiki statement on the event (unless the reference to Cutter manufactured Salk vaccine in the brief of the NYT article is about a different event from May 1955, which I sincerely doubt).
and here is their source, it doesn't read anything like what you are describing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2928990. [nih.gov]
Mistakes absolutely happen, but I hardly see any of the sinister motive you attribute. The dude didn't murder his 30 month old grandson, an accident happened, it is tragic, but not at all what you are portraying.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @12:25AM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernice_Eddy [wikipedia.org]
I'm sure you can find lots of interesting stuff if you pull on that thread.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by progo on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:16PM (2 children)
Was that three years between the patient noticing a problem and getting a consultation? Or was the patient a self-boiled frog, denying that he needed medical attention? Or something else?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:49PM
Personal responsibility is not promoted by NHS. In fact, it is recognized as a pathological condition.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 09 2020, @11:40PM
This is the most interesting question to me, and I wonder why you haven't generated more conversation. On a spectrum of "caring about your appearance" there's probably a spectrum. Either end seems pathological to me. On one end you have Tanning Mom and Michael Jackson. On the other end you have this guy. There might also be something about the culture. Perhaps he was raised to "just keep a stiff upper lip", and took that too far. Certainly this must have caused discomfort long before it got to such a state. If partnered, why did his partner not nag him to go to the doctor? If not partnered, it seems like he had given up hope since this would be quite a deal-breaker in the bedroom for most people.
(Score: 2) by progo on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:20PM (4 children)
I don't like having trigger warnings on everything, but … this story's photos need a trigger warning.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday January 09 2020, @06:32PM (2 children)
In what way exactly were you "triggered"? Do you mean that you found the images shocking or repulsive? If that is indeed the case, then you should know by this stage in your life that you don't like such things, and perhaps you accept some responsibility for deciding to look at the source in the first instance. We are all adults here and we don't have protected places, safe areas or trigger warnings.
If you are reading the source of a medical condition I think it is reasonable that the source contains all relevant information. We did not publish the pictures themselves. You chose to access the link provided.
But, to meet your needs, I will now warn you that sources reporting on space and astronomy will probably contain images of space, planets and stars. Sources reporting on hardware or computers often contain pictures of hardware and computers, and medical sources often contain information including imagery of medical conditions and related matters.
I am NOT giving this advice as a member of the editorial team, but simply as a member of this community. I would rather have access to more information, including imagery, than be limited to some wishy-washy reporting that removes information or feels the need to issue 'trigger warnings'. Other members of the community or the editorial team may disagree with me on any or all of my comments here.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 10 2020, @05:49PM
The "triggering image" wasn't even the first image on the article's page. It was down a bit farther. They didn't even show it after it was removed . . . which would have been cool. A bit more information would have been nice too, was it hard like a scab, hard like a finger nail, or just kind of a soft tissue growth. All it says is scaly, so maybe it felt more like that dead skin on the edges of your fingernail. I've probably spent way too much brain power on this thought anyway. I grew up listening to doctor/nurse talk at the dinner table all the time, so maybe I've got a weird fascination with some things.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by progo on Saturday January 11 2020, @05:00AM
My comment overstated my actual mental state when I read it. It was only half serious. I'm a big boy.
Sorry for the confusion.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Joe Desertrat on Friday January 10 2020, @10:58PM
Try to find a link for "Tub Girl".
(Score: 5, Funny) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday January 09 2020, @06:35PM (2 children)
The chap is lucky to have found treatment. I'm surprised a poacher didn't hunt him down to make some weird folk medicine out of it.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Friday January 10 2020, @12:34AM
Yea, he's lucky he didn't travel to Wuhan China where all sorts of beasties are on the menu!
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday January 10 2020, @04:41PM
Advantage #34 to not living in Nigeria?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday January 09 2020, @07:44PM
Let's go it in slow motion:
>Man
alright
>with 5.5-Inch (14cm)
OH
>Horn
OOH
>Growing
OOOOH
>on His
OOOOOOOOH
>Back
aargh well you tried
Account abandoned.