Man's Cancerous Lump Spotted by TikTok Users, Potentially Saving His Life

A man was alerted to the fact he most likely had cancer by people commenting on his TikTok videos.

The man, who posts under the name Seattle Tech Bro, took to the app on August 18 to reveal that comments on his early videos regrading his oversized thyroid made him go and get it checked out by a doctor—and potentially saved his life.

On videos that he had posted earlier this year about how he budgets his finances, Seattle Tech Bro was left comments which resulted in him discovering that a nodule on his thyroid was 95 percent likely to be cancerous.

One person, Artzvl, had commented on May 15: "Your thyroid looks a bit swollen. You want to get that checked."

Another TikTok user, Rayma Prasad, wrote: "Sorry if this is overstepping. Your thyroid looks a bit swollen, please get it checked. Usually it's just an enlarged thyroid but sometimes it's thyroid cancer."

Speaking about how these comments had resulted in surgery, in a clip that can be watched here, Seattle Tech Bro revealed: "TikTok told me I had cancer. And it seems like they were right.

"So for those of you who don't know my first couple of TikTok videos were just me talking about my budget and people commented or DM'd me saying my thyroid looked a little enlarged and that I should get it checked out as it might be cancerous.

"And so out of an abundance of caution and just because I get anxious about these sorts of things, I went ahead and got it checked out.

"And long story short, after several rounds of tests and ultrasounds and such we found out that there's a 95 percent chance that that nodule I had was cancerous."

As a consequence he chose to have the "cancerous bit" removed and ended the video by revealing: "I will probably make less videos during recovery. It is quite hard to talk. It kind of drains me to talk so much."

Seattle Tech Bro's story has gone viral, having already been watched by 934,700 people and receiving 151,200 likes.

But what are the warning signs to look out for? The NHS website explains: "Thyroid cancer often causes a painless lump or swelling low down in the front of the neck.

"However, neck lumps are common and are usually caused by a less serious condition, such as an enlarged thyroid (goiter). Only around 1 in every 20 neck lumps are cancer."

It adds that: "While it's unlikely to be cancer, it's important to get it checked."

Newsweek has contacted Seattle Tech Bro for comment.