Scientists reported the discovery of the bones of the foot with malignant tumor by the age of 1.7 million years.
An international group of researchers headed by scientists from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa reported the discovery of the bones of the foot with malignant tumor by the age of 1.7 million years. At the moment it is the oldest evidence of cancer was found by paleontologists. Article scientists published in the journal South African Journal of Science.
The fossil belonged to the tribe hominini, which includes the existing chimpanzees, humans, and their extinct ancestors. However, while scientists are unable to determine exactly what kind it was. Previously, the oldest tumor of hominid was discovered in the rib of a Neanderthal and dated to 120 thousand years ago. According to the researchers, their finding is evidence that cancer is not solely the result of modern lifestyle and environmental exposures.
A malignant tumor that affected metatarsal bone was identified as osteosarcoma, an aggressive type of cancer that most often affects young people.
The researchers also found a benign tumor in the vertebrae of the child, Australopithecus sediba, which also reaches about two million years. Anthropologists emphasize that the presence of a tumor in the back part of the skeleton at an early age is rare and represents the oldest evidence of this disease in hominids.
Both diseases were diagnosed using imaging technology at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, computed tomography (CT) in hospital Charlotte Macsec in South Africa, as well as micro-CT scanner, which is owned by the atomic energy Corporation in South Africa.
