Man, 65, in Los Angeles develops a ‘cheesy’ yellow tumor on his shoulder after bizarre reaction to Pfizer Covid vaccine

A California man developed a non-cancerous tumor after receiving the Pfizer Covid vaccine, doctors have revealed.

The 65-year-old man, whose name and location have not been revealed, went to his physician after living with a 3cm lump on his shoulder for more than a year.

He was diagnosed with a benign tumor that starts from the base of a hair follicle and is normally firm and painless – that was traced back to his first Pfizer shot 18 months earlier.

Surgeons removed the mass, which they described as containing ‘cheesy material,’ and he made a full recovery.

These types of tumors – pilomatrixomas – have been linked to several different kinds of vaccines for various diseases, including influenza and hepatitis.

It has been seen at least two times in relation to Covid vaccines in the past, one of which was also caused by the Pfizer vaccine.

But it is the trauma to the area, such as an injection, that causes the formation of the tumor rather than material in a vaccine. 

The latest patient visited his doctor in Los Angeles complaining of a ‘firm’ but painless lump on his left upper arm.

He had a minor surgical procedure to remove the mass and then testing of the tissue confirmed it was a non-cancerous pilomatrixoma. 

Upon examination of the contents of the tumor, doctors found fragments of hard soft tissue with ‘cheesy material.’

Following up three months later, the man did not report a reoccurrence of the lump.

Pilomatrixomas are often difficult to diagnose given how rare they are and the many different ways they look. It is estimated only between 12.5 percent to 55.5 percent of cases are correctly diagnosed.

The mass can first be confused with other conditions that present in a similar way, including a granuloma — collection of white blood cells and tissues in response to infections — and lipoma — a fatty lump that grows slowly between the skin and muscle.

In order to accurately diagnose a pilomatrixoma, doctors should perform an ultrasound, as well examine the tissue from the lump under a microscope. Once diagnosed, the tumor is removed via surgical incision under local anesthesia— when doctors make a small incision into the tissue while the patient is awake using a sharp medical instrument to remove the mass.

These masses typically occur in patients younger than 20 years old and are commonly found on the head and neck.  

The case report mentioned two other cases of pilomatrixoma appearing after a Covid vaccine in a 30-year-old woman and 43-year-old woman.

There is no information regarding which vaccine the 30-year-old received, but it is known the older woman also received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid shot.