Not just a bruise: what mark on the nail can indicate a rare form of cancer

In particular, this is why experts sometimes advise to take a break and abandon varnish for a while – it is worth periodically checking how “bare” nails look. However, 32-year-old Stacey Boss wasn’t going to — she was going to leave the nail salon with a new liner. Fortunately, the master guessed that Stacy needed to see a doctor as soon as possible.

According to the woman, she has long been accustomed to the mark on the nail. “It was like a strip — like someone had run permanent marker over my nail from base to tip,” Stacey explains. The girl was sure that the barely visible line was just the result of some kind of finger injury, and therefore she was very surprised when the salon employee advised her to go to the hospital.

The doctor diagnosed Stacy with subungual melanoma, one of the rarest forms of malignant neoplasm. This disease is successfully treated if detected early, but can be fatal if diagnosed too late. The boss was lucky – the manicure saved his life thanks to his advice: the girl managed to remove the nail and part of the bone before the cancer spread to other parts of the body – for example, the lymph nodes.

In 30% of cases, subungual melanoma is pigmentless, which is why the neoplasm can go unnoticed for a long time. Symptoms appear when the tumor begins to grow into the surrounding tissues – after this the nail deforms, becomes dull and thin, begins to exfoliate and breaks easily. Be sure to watch out for these changes if they only affect one finger – they can be a sign of cancer, especially if accompanied by itching, burning, or a feeling of fullness.

These factors include:

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