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A man ’s lash mature unusually long and developed a dramatic curl — and it turned out to be a side effect of his Cancer the Crab handling .
In a report of the humankind ’s case , published Wednesday ( April 24 ) in the journalJAMA Dermatology , physician scream the patient ’s sudden cilium growth " drug - induced trichomegaly . " Trichomegaly refer to a condition in which eyelashes grow very , very long , normally outstrip their usual lengthby about 0.5 inch(12 millimeters ) or more . At the same metre , the eyelashes can become curly , thick and darker .
Chemotherapy messed with a man’s eyelashes, causing them to grow super long.
Several drug can trigger trichomegaly , including a course of instruction of medication known as epidermal growing factor sense organ ( EGFR ) inhibitors . These admit a chemotherapy drug called panitumumab , which work by jam EGFR in the body ; the Isle of Man was taking this drug as part of a chemotherapy regime for advanced colorectal cancer . By blocking the receptor on tumor cells , the drug increases the chance that the electric cell will self - destruct and also suppresses their ability to grow and spread out .
However , EGFR is n’t unique to cancer cells . The receptor come along in in high spirits quantities in certain types of tumors , but they are also found in healthy tissues , including cell found in theouter layer of the skinand in whisker follicle .
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grounds suggests that blocking EGFR maythrow off the normal wheel of hair growth , extending the stage in which tomentum actively grows . Turning down EGFR has also been tied to an increase in whisker coarseness and waviness , as well as to the formation of unexampled hair follicle . The resulting , haywire lash growth is well established as a potential side effect of EGFR blockers , having beenreported alongside striking images in other aesculapian journalsin the past times .
In addition to chemotherapy drug like panitumumab , other medicines can touch off trichomegaly . For instance , prostaglandins — endocrine - like drugs used to treatglaucoma , among other conditions — are thought to advance eyelash development in a similar means to EGFR blockers .
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The condition has also been tiedto infections such asHIV / AIDSand to various genetic syndromes , including ones that dissemble the response to increase factors .
When panitumumab trip eyelash outgrowth , the side essence normally shows up within the first few months of a someone start out treatment and goes aside after the treatment stops , the report authors noted . In the man ’s case , he was simply give way " elaborate instructions regarding safe eyelash trimming " to deal with his extra - long lash .
Trichomegaly is ordinarily harmless , except in cases where the eyelashes bug out to rise in the wrong management , toward the eyeball . This is get it on astrichiasis , and it can damage the outer layer of the eye and lead to ulcers , vision loss and , in hard cases , cecity .
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