A recent video posted on social media highlights an unusual but potentially critical cancer indicator that usually goes unnoticed: the sudden growth of superb, white hairs on normally hairless areas of the body.
Dr. Scott Walter, a board-certified dermatologist, recently highlighted this problem in my TikTok postThis condition is often known as acquired hypertrichosis lanuginosa and affects, in line with the Information Center for Genetic and Rare Diseases.
Walter explains within the video that lanugo, defined as superb, non-pigmented, thin hairs much like those present in newborns, can appear on the ears, cheeks and nose of adults. When this happens, it could be a paraneoplastic disease – a condition attributable to the body's response to an internal cancer, commonly lung, breast, uterine or ovarian cancer.
“The crazy thing is that this sign can precede the cancer diagnosis by two and a half years, which means it could be the first sign that you have cancer,” Walter said. “Now, again, this is extremely rare, and I don't want to scare you, but I think it's an interesting way that our skin tells us that something is going on inside.”
Early detection stays a key factor for successful cancer treatment, in line with the World Health Organizationand awareness of lesser-known characters equivalent to HLA can play a vital role on this process.
“So if you notice that something strange is happening with your skin, be sure to have it checked out,” advises Walter.
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