It’s a ground-breaking discovery. An international team of researchers recently uncovered evidence that ancient Egyptians were engaged in experimental treatments or medical explorations of human cancer over 4,000 years ago.
“This is an extraordinary new perspective in our understanding of the history of medicine,” said Edgard Camarós, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and lead author of the study, which was published in May in the Frontiers in Medicine journal.
Camarós’ team examined two ancient human skulls from the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection.
One skull, from a man aged 30 to 35, dates back to 2687-2345 BC and had about 30 small round lesions indicative of a tumor, with evidence of cuts around the lesions made by a sharp object, as reported by the New York Post.
The other skull, from a woman over 50, dates to 663-343 BC. Researchers were surprised by the signs of ancient surgical intervention.
“When we first observed the cutmarks under the microscope, we could not believe what was in front of us,” said Tatiana Tondini, a researcher at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
The Cancer History Project reveals that the earliest known mention of human cancer dates back to Egypt around 3000 BC. Hippocrates, the Greek physician (460-370 BC), is credited with naming the disease cancer.
The female skull exhibited bone destruction caused by a cancerous tumor and two healed lesions from past injuries.
Researchers suggested the injuries might have resulted from close-range violence with a sharp weapon, an unexpected finding given that most violence-related injuries are typically found in men.
“Was this female individual involved in any kind of warfare activities?” Tondini asked. “If so, we must rethink the role of women in the past and how they took active part in conflicts during antiquity.”
Researchers cautioned against drawing definitive conclusions due to the incomplete nature of the remains and the lack of medical history for both individuals.
However, they expressed optimism about the potential significance of this discovery for the global history of cancer.
“This study contributes to a changing of perspective and sets an encouraging base for future research on the field of paleo-oncology, but more studies will be needed to untangle how ancient societies dealt with cancer,” Camarós said.
