Here is a concise summary of the article:
**Title:** The Rarest Cancer Ever Recorded: A Tapeworm-Derived Cancer
**Summary:**
* A 41-year-old HIV-positive man in Colombia presented with symptoms leading to the discovery of cancer-like masses in his body.
* After a 5-month investigation, researchers found that the masses were not human cancer cells, but rather malignant, cancer-like cells originating from a **dwarf tapeworm (Hymenolepis nana) infection**.
* Genetic analysis revealed significant mutations in the tapeworm's DNA, linked to cancer development.
* The patient's severely compromised immune system (due to untreated HIV) likely allowed the tapeworm cells to mutate and spread beyond the intestinal tract.
* The case is extremely rare, and researchers emphasize that effective treatments for tapeworm infections and HIV can prevent such outcomes.
* The study provides a valuable, well-documented case for doctors to recognize similar, potentially misidentified cases in the future.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text, numbered and in short sentences:
1. **Case Background**: A 41-year-old man in Colombia presented with a rare, unidentified condition.
2. **Initial Symptoms**: The patient had a fever, cough, fatigue, and weight loss in January 2013.
3. **Pre-existing Condition**: The patient was diagnosed with HIV in 2006 but was not taking medication.
4. **HIV Status at Presentation**:
* Viral load: approximately 70,000 per milliliter.
* CD4 count: 28 per cubic millimeter, indicating a severe infection.
5. **Additional Infection**: The patient had an infection of *Hymenolepis nana*, also known as dwarf tapeworm.
6. **Unusual Cell Growth**: Clumps of cells up to 4.5 cm across were found in lungs, liver, near kidneys, and in lymph nodes.
7. **Cell Characteristics**:
* Looked like copies of each other under a microscope.
* Densely packed, unorganized, and growing rapidly.
* Had large nuclei, similar to stem cells.
8. **Diagnostic Challenge**: Cells were smaller than typical human cancer cells and lacked human cytokeratin and vimentin proteins.
9. **DNA Test Result**: A 99% match with dwarf tapeworm DNA, despite the cells' unusual appearance.
10. **Mutations Identified**: Significant mutations in at least five proteins, three of which had equivalents in mammals linked to cancer.
11. **Diagnosis**: Malignant, cancer-like masses originating from tapeworm cells.
12. **Time to Diagnosis**: Approximately five months.
13. **Patient Outcome**: The patient died of kidney failure three days after the diagnosis was confirmed.
14. **Research Outcome**: The case was fully analyzed and published, highlighting a rare instance of tapeworm cells behaving like cancer.
15. **Scientific Speculation**:
* HIV's impact on the immune system may have allowed the tapeworm to mutate and spread.
* Tapeworm larvae may have matured into cancer-like clumps in unconventional locations.
16. **General Risk Assessment**: Researchers do not expect this to be a common outcome of tapeworm infections, especially with available treatments.