It’s hard to say exactly how many people experience fingerprint loss as a result of Hand-Foot Syndrome, but the number represents a small fraction of patients with the ailment, says Massachusetts General Hospital oncologist Don Dizon, an expert at the American Society of Clinical Oncology who was not involved with the report.

In this case, a situation at the bank revealed the fingerprint loss and the doctors explained the circumstances to the bank. But many cases likely go unreported because most people don’t need to use their fingerprints in day-to-day life, Dizon says. Many of the known cases of fingerprint loss have been discovered at United States Border Patrol stations that require fingerprints, he says.

But since fingerprints are increasingly being integrated into cell phone use and identification technology, we might see fingerprint loss more and more, says Dizon.