A man in Spain who feared he had brain cancer turned out to have something else in his head: tapeworms, Gizmodo reports. The 60-year-old went to doctors with worsening headaches and subtle behavior changes; a CT scan suggested metastatic brain tumors, and he was started on steroids commonly used to ease cancer-related brain swelling, which quickly improved his symptoms. But further testing couldn't find any primary cancer, and an MRI scan eventually revealed the real culprit—cysts from the pork tapeworm Taenia solium lodged in his brain. The condition occurs when microscopic tapeworm eggs are ingested and settle in the brain, the New York Post reports.
The diagnosis, detailed in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, confirmed a case of neurocysticercosis, a parasitic brain infection that's rare in wealthier countries but a leading cause of adult-onset seizures worldwide. The man, who hadn't traveled to tapeworm-endemic regions, likely picked up the parasite through local exposure on construction sites where he shared food and bathrooms with migrant workers, the authors say—evidence of unusual local transmission in Western Europe. Fox News reports exposure to the eggs could have occurred years earlier. He was treated with antiparasitic drugs and tapered off steroids without complications. The doctors say the case shows that brain infections from T. solium should remain on the diagnostic radar, even where cancer is statistically far more likely.
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