Man goes to doctor for toothache, leaves with a shocking prostate cancer diagnosis | Trending
A 78-year-old man was in for a shock when he went to his dent with a tooth hoping for a quick way to get some pain relief but received news of something much worse. Symptoms of jaw metastases can be subtle and often be confused for common dental problems.(Representational) After the dent decided to remove the tooth, the man was sent home but his jaw began to swell. Concerned about the swelling and pain, the man returned to the doctor and asked for another check up. This time the doctor conducted a CT scan which revealed a lesion in his jaw. After a few more tests, the doctor was confident — it was prostate cancer. Prostate cancer in jaw?The man’s doctor explained that it was metastatic prostate cancer, a condition where prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body. “Prostate cancer, like many other cancers, can metastasise to the jaw,” Dr Andrej Bozic, an oral surgeon told The Sun. The doctor said that since the jawbone has a rich blood supply and active bone marrow, it often becomes common for metastatic cancer cells to settle and grow there. Metastatic prostate cancer is relatively rare in the jaw, but when it does occur, it’s usually a sign that the cancer has spread widely. (Also read: US woman goes to doctor for sore throat only to discover she’s pregnant with quadruplets) What are the symptoms?Symptoms of jaw metastases can be subtle and often be confused for common dental problems, making it harder even for dents to detect. “Patients may experience symptoms such as persent swelling in the jaw, pain, loose teeth without an obvious cause, or delayed healing after dental extractions,” Dr Bozic said He explained that some individuals might experience “numbness or tingling in the jaw, which could indicate nerve involvement.” In this case, the swelling that developed after the man’s tooth extraction provided a vital clue. Prostate cancer is the fourth most common cancer globally and the leading cancer among men. Each year, approximately 400,000 people worldwide lose their lives to this disease.
