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October 21, 2020 07:00 am

Scientists Discover a New Organ In the Throat

New submitter Orolo shares a report from ScienceAlert: Medical researchers have made a surprise anatomical discovery, finding what looks to be a mysterious set of salivary glands hidden inside the human head -- which somehow have been missed by scientists for centuries up until now. This "unknown entity" was identified by accident by doctors in the Netherlands, who were examining prostate cancer patients with an advanced type of scan called PSMA PET/CT. When paired with injections of radioactive glucose, this diagnostic tool highlights tumors in the body. In this case, however, it showed up something else entirely, nestled in the rear of the nasopharynx, and quite the long-time lurker. As for how the glands haven't previously been identified, the researchers suggest the structures are found at a poorly accessible anatomical location under the skull base, making them hard to make out endoscopically. It's possible duct openings could have been noticed, they say, but might not have been noticed for what they are, being part of a larger gland system. While the team concedes that additional research on a larger, more diverse cohort will be needed to validate their findings, they say the discovery gives us another target to avoid during radiation treatments for patients with cancer, as salivary glands are highly susceptible to damage from the therapy. The findings are reported in Radiotherapy and Oncology.

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