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A 51-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes developed recurrent low blood sugar episodes together with nausea, poor appetite, early satiety, bloating, occasional vomiting and about 6 kg of unintentional weight loss over 3 months. Her gastrointestinal symptoms and weight loss had initially been attributed to metformin.
Examination showed mild anemia, darkened thickened skin in the armpits and a distinctive thick, pigmented, velvety appearance over the palms and backs of both hands. This pattern raised concern for a cancer-associated skin change rather than a routine manifestation of diabetes.
Further evaluation showed iron-deficiency anemia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed an irregular gastric mass, and biopsy confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma.
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
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These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer