A viral TikTok with over 30 million views showed viewers that a "cool streak" on a user's nail was actually a sign of cancer-a sign that was a decade old.
TikTok user Maria mentioned in the viral clip she first noticed the streak as early as 10 years ago in an old social media post.
At that time, the streak was a faint light and thin line. Within a year, the streak grew in size and deepened in color, according to Maria.
Maria said because she was an athlete, she visited doctors each year and needed a physical.
It wasn't in 2014 that a doctor noticed the streak. Maria said because she "didn't fit the demographic," it was most likely a mole and nothing of concern.
@invrfoundwaldo I wish I were joking lol but i have some awesome photos #SmoothLikeNitroPepsi #theadamproject #cancer #darkhumour #fml #myjourney ♬ original sound - kooze
Maria stated throughout the years the streak never caused pain or discomfort.
It wasn't until January 2022 that Maria saw a doctor due to the "pushing" by a friend.
According to her, her biopsy came back showing a subungual melanoma (specifically acral lentiginous melanoma), which is loosely translated to "cancer of the toe," Maria said.
In most cases, dark coloring of the nail means a mole or a sign of physical trauma, but for Maria, it was an extremely rare case of cancer.
WebMD states on their website that subungual melanomas are usually only seen between 0.07 percent to 3.5 percent of people in the world.
What makes Maria an even more unusual case is that these forms of cancer are typically seen in people of color with most cases being people of African descent and are between 50 and 70 years of age.
Maria said she received surgery to remove the tumor and that it did not spread. A skin graft was done in addition to covering its former spot.
WebMD says most tumors of this type can be removed via surgery, but in more serious cases the infected area would need to be amputated.
When caught early, WebMD says the survival rate can be as high as 97 percent, but in its final cases, the rate could drop as low as 10 percent.
