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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: 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".