North Carolina Cancer Patient Develops 'Uncontrollable Irish Accent' During Treatment, Study Says

A North Carolina man being treated for prostate cancer started speaking with an "uncontrollable Irish accent" despite having never set foot on the island, according to a new study.

The patient, who was in his 50s, may have had Foreign Accent Syndrome, the British Medical Journal reported.

The condition left the man with a "brogue" that persisted until his death, the study said.

He had no immediate family from Ireland, but had lived in Britain during his 20s, researchers said.

"His accent was uncontrollable, present in all settings and gradually became persistent," the study said. His curious condition surfaced 20 months into his treatment.

"To our knowledge, this is the first case of FAS described in a patient with prostate cancer and the third described in a patient with malignancy," authors of the study said.

Though rare, the syndrome has been reported elsewhere, including a Texas woman who awoke from jaw surgery in 2016, and started speaking with a British accent.

In 2010, a German-born Briton reportedly began speaking with a Chinese accent following a severe migraine.

The condition is most often associated with head trauma or stroke, according to medical experts.

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