Earliest Human Cancer Found in 1.7-Million-Year-Old Bone
This post originally appeared on National Geographic.
In the fossil-rich region of South Africa known as the Cradle of Humankind, scientists have discovered the earliest known case of one of the world’s most deadly diseases.
Using 3-D imaging, the researchers have diagnosed an aggressive type of cancer called osteosarcoma in a foot bone belonging to a human relative who died in Swartkrans Cave between 1.6 and 1.8 million years ago.
The discovery—which has just been published in the South African Journal of Science—suggests that, while modern lifestyles have increased the incidences of cancer, especially in industrialized countries, the triggers for the disease are embedded deep within the human evolutionary past.
“You can opt for the paleo diet, you can have as clean a living environment as you want, but the capacity for these diseases is ancient, and it’s within us regardless of what you do to yourselves,” says study co-author Edward Odes of the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Phantom Menace
The precise origins of cancer have been a source of debate due, in part, to the scarcity of historical evidence. Possibly the earliest reference to the disease is attributed to the great Egyptian physician Imhotep, who lived around 2600 B.C. In his writings, Imhotep describes an affliction characterized by a “bulging mass in the breast” that was resistant to any known therapies.
But most ancient texts had little to...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
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