We think of many things when we talk regarding prostate cancer, but a priori, not the possibility of seeing our way of speaking change. Yet that’s what happened to a man in his fifties, who developed an Irish accent following his prostate cancer.
A priori unique, this clinical case was described by doctors and published in the BMJ Case Report (Source 1). « A man in his 50s with hormone-responsive metastatic prostate cancer, receiving androgen deprivation therapy and abiraterone/prednisone acetate, presented with an accent [de type] Uncontrollable “Irish brogue” despite having no Irish background, consistent with Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS). He had not no abnormalities on neurological examinationpsychiatric history or MRI showing brain abnormalities at onset of symptoms “, detail the doctors.
Even more amazing, the man had never been to Ireland or spoken in such an accent before. Uncontrollable, this sudden accent has persisted over time. And beyond involuntary weight loss, the man did not reportno phenomenon or trauma which might have explained this syndrome of the foreign accent, which generally occurs following a blow to the head or a cerebral problem (stroke for example). However, additional examinations revealed progression of prostate cancer of the patient, without this explaining the appearance of the accent.
The hypothesis adopted by the medical team is that of a paraneoplastic neurological syndrome, term used to refer to remote effects of cancer, caused neither by the tumor or its metastases, nor by infection, ischemia or metabolic disturbances. It might be hormonal or immune mechanisms.
In any case, the doctors consider that this clinical case highlights the need for more research on paraneoplastic neurological syndromes and the occurrence of a foreign accent syndrome.
The patient has since died in hospice care, and kept that Irish-sounding accent until his death.
