Doctors across the world are amazed at a medical case that seems to indicate that tapeworms can infect people with cancerous tumors. Tapeworms are known parasites. They have the ability to get into the body of a human host and lay their eggs.

A 41-year-old man in Medellín, Columbia, has lost his life after he seemingly become infected with cancer via a tapeworm. The patient had fever, fatigue, cough, and chronic weight loss in January 2013. He was subsequently diagnosed with HIV infection in 2006. The man refused to take his HIV infection. He then became infected with Dwarf tapeworms called Hymenolepis nana.

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NBC News quotes pathologist Dr. Atis Muehlenbachs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressing amazement about the previously unknown condition wherein tapeworms grow inside a human body, spreading cancer and causing tumor.

An international team of researchers mentioned that the man was very ill.  His stool was reportedly full of tapeworm eggs. Tiny little tumors were seen in his lungs and lymph nodes.

Initially, CDC lab studies revealed that the cancer-like cells were not human but have similar appearance to human cancer cells. The team thought of it as slime mold. The patient died during the course of the investigation. Further tests five months later showed the presence of tapeworm DNA in the little clusters of tumor cells.

According to CDC, eating food contaminated with mouse droppings or insects or ingesting feces from an infected person can cause tapeworms.  The parasite, which can grow up to inch and a half long, does not cause any obvious symptoms. It can reproduce for years inside the human body. Approximately 75 million people globally carry them.

Washing your hands with soap and warm water and washing, peeling, or cooking raw vegetables and fruits before eating them can help to prevent an infection.

Viruses and bacteria can cause cancer, but prior to this incident, no one knew that tapeworms could spread cancer. Human papillomavirus can cause cervical and anal cancer. Helicobacter pylori bacteria can cause stomach cancer.

Tapeworms are eliminated with drugs, but drugs that clear up tumors have not been developed. Chemotherapy treatment is set to be tested against tapeworm-causing malignant cancer cells. Researchers have noted that this is definitely an area that deserves more study.

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