A man was held by immigration officials at a US airport - because a cancer drug had caused his fingerprints to disappear.
The 62-year-old, known had recently won his battle against head and neck cancer when he was given capecitabine to prevent a relapse. However, one of the anti-metabolite drug's side-effects is hand-foot syndrome where skin on a patient's palms or soles can peel, bleed and develop ulcers or blisters.
When Mr S attempted to fly from Singapore, Hong Kong, to visit relatives in America in December 2008, he was detained at customs for four hours.
Dr Eng-Huat Tan, his doctor at Singapore's National Cancer Centre, revealed officials believed he was a criminal trying to hide his identity. He said: "He was detained at the airport customs for four hours because the immigration officers could not detect his fingerprints.
"He was allowed to enter after the custom officers were satisfied that he was not a security threat. It is possible that there may be a growing number of such patients as Mr S who may benefit from maintenance capecitabine for disseminated malignancy."
Dr Tan advised all cancer patients who are being treated with capecitabine to carry a doctor's letter with them in a letter to the journal Annals of Oncology last week.
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