Despite having never been to Ireland, a US man who was diagnosed with prostate cancer began to speak with an "uncontrollable Irish accent," according to researchers.
According to the British Medical Journal, the North Carolina man, who was in his 50s, was likely suffering from foreign accent syndrome (FAS).
The man, who had no close relatives from Ireland, was given a rare syndrome that gave him a "brogue" that lasted until his passing.
Similar cases have been reported in numerous locations recently.
Duke University in North Carolina and the Carolina Urologic Research Center in South Carolina jointly investigated and reported on the case.
According to the report's authors, this is the first case of FAS that has been reported in a patient with prostate cancer and the third case in a patient with cancer.
Many identifying details about the man, such as his name and nationality, were left out of the report.
He reportedly had friends and extended family from Ireland while he was in his 20s and living in England. However, they point out that he had never before spoken with the foreign accent.
The researchers write in their report that "His accent was uncontrollable, present in all settings, and gradually became persistent," adding that it first appeared 20 months into his treatment.
The accent persisted even as his health declined until his passing months later.
The report stated that at the time of symptom onset, "He had no neurological examination abnormalities, psychiatric history, or MRI of the brain abnormalities.".
His neuroendocrine prostate cancer advanced despite chemotherapy, leading to multifocal brain metastases and a likely paraneoplastic ascending paralysis that ultimately caused his death. ".
The condition known as paraneoplastic neurological disorder (PND) is thought by the researchers to be the root of the voice change.
PND develops when a cancer patient's immune system attacks their muscles, nerves, and spinal cord in addition to certain areas of the brain.
The unsettling sensation of hearing a "stranger in the house" whenever they speak has been described by other FAS sufferers to the BBC.
After having a stroke in 2006, UK resident Linda Walker discovered that her Geordie accent had been replaced by a voice with a Jamaican accent.
One of the earliest cases was in 1941 when a young Norwegian woman who had been struck by bomb shrapnel during a Second World War air raid developed a German accent.
Locals avoided her because they believed she was a Nazi spy.
