Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He actually had worms.

[LiberalArkie]

JUN 26, 2026 4:43 PM

A 60-year-old man in Spain went to the doctor complaining of a headache that he couldn’t shake. It had started two weeks prior and was only getting worse. He also said he had noticed subtle changes in his behavior.

In a neurological exam, doctors found he had a mild delay in his movements, but no other deficits. His blood work was generally normal except for elevated IgE, a signal of immune responses linked to allergies, autoimmune disease, and parasitic infections. The doctors did a computed tomography (CT) scan of his head and saw much more obvious evidence of a problem: There were multiple lesions distributed throughout his brain accompanied by swelling.

In a case report in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the doctors reported working through the possible conditions that could explain all the findings. They noted that the man was not immunocompromised and had never traveled internationally. Their top suspicion was metastatic cancer.

Snip

The doctors did another brain scan, this time with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to get a better look at the lesions. With the more detailed imaging, they saw clearly that the lesions weren’t tumors; they were encapsulated tapeworm larvae. On the MRI, the doctors could see the worms’ heads, called scolexes.

Snip

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/doctors-suspected-man-had-brain-cancer-he-actually-had-worms/#comments


Comment: Is he now eligible to be Spains chief director of human health? Is this how our chief head of health got worms, swimming in sewage?

[hlthe2b]

1. Neurocysticercosis (cyst from pork tapeworms): RFK Jr has admitted the same with him...

He was about to undergo brain surgery for suspected tumor when someone finally had the medical good sense of even a reasonably competent first year resident or intern to test for evidence of Taenia solium (pork tapeworm) infection. Yes, I am a bit contemptuous, as this is not all that rare--even in the US and a neurologist worth his/her salt SHOULD have had that on their rule-outs before assuming a mass on MRI was automatically a tumor. Not to mention, had they even spoken to him with his longstanding habit of eating wildlife roadkill a number of species. Undercooked bear meat being one such example that infected a family of six in South Dakota a few years ago.

[The Madcap]

2. At least he might be able to get surgery to remove them.

Here, they are a requirement of a certain Cabinet job.

[Blue Owl]

3. And that man was RFK Jr., America's Secretary of Health

[flvegan]

4. Reads exactly like an episode of "House"

Loved that show.