Man Detained At Airport Because Cancer Drug Made His Fingerprints Disappear

May 27, 2009 7:12 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - A man taking an effective drug for head and neck cancer was detained at a United States airport in 2008 because the drug caused his fingerprints to become undetectable.

The 62-year-old man, who was flying to the United States from Canada, was taking the drug capecitabine, which is an anti-metabolite drug, for treatment of his cancer after a successful round of chemotherapy. But one of the side effects of the drug can be hand-foot syndrome - a chronic inflammation of the palms or soles of the feet, which can cause the skin to peel, bleed and develop ulcers.

The unidentified man's doctor told of his plight in the May 27 edition of the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology.

The man was taking capecitabine for more than three years. He did have hand-foot syndrome, but it was a mild enough case to where it was not affecting his life, his physician, Dr. Eng-Huat Tan, a senior consultant in the medical oncology department at the National Cancer Center in Singapore wrote.

Nevertheless, when he travelled to the states to visit relatives, U.S. Customs officials could not obtain fingerprints from him. Foreign visitors to the United States are asked to provide fingerprints at U.S. airports so the images can be matched with visa holders to detect whether a new visa applicant has a visa under a different name.

"In December 2008, after more than three years of capecitabine, he went to the United States to visit his relatives," wrote Tan. "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. He was advised to travel with a letter from his oncologist stating his condition and the treatment he was receiving to account for his lack of fingerprints to facilitate his entry in future."

The patient, identified only as Mr. S in the report, was not aware he lost his fingerprints before he travelled.