- Parasite derived cancer,
that's the big news out of
the November 5, 2015 issue
of the New England journal of medicine.
We're talking about a
malignant transformation
of a tapeworm inside a human host.
And it's the first known report
of what might be a wider phenomenon.
(jazz music)
It all began back in 2013
with a 41 year old HIV infected
Colombian man in Medellin.
He'd been diagnosed with HIV back in 2006,
but he wasn't taking his
prescribed medications.
When he came to the doctor with symptoms
of fatigue, fever, cough, and weight loss
they performed a CT scan
and discovered lung and lymph node tumors.
Next came a biopsy of the tumor tissue
and results were weird enough
to call in the CDC.
The malignant cells acted like cancer,
but their small side suggested
a non-human origin.
Plasmodial slime mold was an early suspect
but test eventually
reveled the presence of
dwarf tapeworm DNA in
the patient's tumors.
The dwarf tapeworm or hymenolepis nana
is the most common human tapeworm.
Up to 75 million of us
around the world have them,
but they're usually limited to their home
in the small intestine
and they don't cause any
symptoms in their hosts.
But in this case the
patients immune functions
were impaired by HIV.
And researchers believe
this allowed the parasites
to proliferate, develop cancer,
and essentially spread
that cancer to the host.
While this is the first known case of
parasite derived cancer,
researchers warn that other malignant
dwarf tapeworm transformations
may be misdiagnosed as human cancer.
Especially in places where both HIV
and dwarf tapeworm
infections are widespread.
In treating such a condition
is a problem all its own.
Anti-tapeworm drugs might prove useless
against the cancer cells.
And while human cancer treatments
might work against the
inhuman cancer cells
we've yet to prove anything out.
It all provides more
insight into the fascinating
and grizzly interactions
between parasite and host.
But what's your take on this topic.
Let us know
and if you want more
strange science in your life
be sure to visit now.howstuffworks.com
each and every day.
