Though generally perceived as a disease of the recent times, cancer is in fact a very old disease, as a 3,000 years plus old skeleton provides evidence for the same. The modern lifestyle with sedentary habits, unhealthy diet and smoking and drinking, is usually blamed for many diseases, and cancer is possibly the most fatal of them all. It kills millions of people every year, and even those who survive it generally need treatments which are expensive and painful.
The reason behind this general perception is that cancer hardly finds any mention in historical or archaeological records, compared to many other diseases. But a recent discovery may make researchers think otherwise.
What Has Been Found?
The skeletal remains belong to a young man, and were found in an African tomb. Michaela Binder, a researcher with the British Museum and Durham University found the bones in 2013 in the Egyptian city of Sudan, on the banks of River Nile. The bones had numerous pockmarks or large holes (diameter ranging from 5 to 15 mm), which signify metastatic cancer. The skeleton might not be just a historical discovery, but also very important for cancer research. Metastatic cancer begins in the epithelial tissue and then spreads to other parts of the body.
She further elaborated that the man was quite young- about 25 to 35 years old, and was buried in a painted wooden coffin and wore a glazed amulet. She carried out some tests in the lab to determine if these marks on his bones were due to some environmental reason or because of termites, but the results were negative.
Binder says that the cancer could possibly be because of inhaling a lot of smoke from fires when wood was burnt for various purposes. This smoke can contain many toxic chemicals, just like smoke from tobacco. Though there is no proof of such a thing like smoke-related cancer in those times, it can still be assumed that smoke was responsible for the cancer as early humans did burn a lot of wood in confined spaces. Heredity could also be a reason for this cancer.
Another possibility could be schistosomiasis, an infectious disease caused by parasites. This disease has been around in Egypt since very old times and is still considered one of the reasons behind bladder cancer and breast cancer in men in this region.
Moreover, the marks on the bones were of malignant metastatic cancer and determining the original site of cancer was near impossible. But Binder and her fellow researchers used radiography as well as a scanning electron microscope and were successful in getting clear images of lesions that were present on various bones. The images show that cancerous tumors had spread to shoulder blades, ribs, vertebrae, thigh bones and pelvis. Their analysis also pointed out that this cancer was that of some soft tissue. The findings of the researchers were published in the journal PLOS One.
What Does This Finding Signify In The Modern Times?
This discovery points out that cancer might actually be an ancient disease. Though it might not have been as prevalent as it is today, but it certainly was there. Understanding the evolution of cancer might be slightly easier now. If we omit cancers caused by carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, chemical factories and processed foods, the rate of cancer in modern times could be the same as the rate of cancer in ancient times.
It also means that certain environmental factors responsible for cancer have been around for a really long time. Researchers can now explore what caused these cancers in those times. This research may also open up newer theories of evolution of cancer if ancient skeletons with cancer evidences are subjected to DNA analysis. This analysis can help deduce genetic mutations linked with some cancers. This could lead to new therapies to tame cancer.
Ongoing research is crucial for the development of new therapies and treatment options. CTCA has been a pioneer in this respect and recently it has opened its gateways in Tulsa too. Cancer Treatment Centers of America has always been at the forefront in research and the new CTCA Tulsa hospital is another positive step forward.