Cancer found in 3,200-year-old skeleton

[UM-Bot]

Archaeologists have found the clearest signs yet that cancer is not only a disease of the modern world.

The ancient skeleton dated back to around 1,200 BC and was unearthed in a tomb found in Sudan last year. When experts analyzed the bones they discovered that the remains exhibited signs of lesions and tumors indicative of cancer.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/263976/cancer-found-in-3200-year-old-skeleton

[Junior Chubb]

Must have been a time traveller

[WoIverine]

I blame ancient aliens.

[Eldorado]

We've know that it wasn't just a modern disease for a long time, have we not?

'“There is no reason to think that cancer is a new disease,” said Robert A. Weinberg, a cancer researcher at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., and the author of the textbook “The Biology of Cancer.” “In former times, it was less common because people were struck down in midlife by other things.” '

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/health/28cancer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[highdesert50]

Evolution is not always benevolent. It could be that as long as there has been "junk" DNA the threat of cancer has likely existed. In what was once considered junk DNA may be the "drivers" that promote cancer progression. http://singularityhub.com/2013/11/13/causes-of-cancer-likely-found-in-junk-dna-study-says/

[Junior Chubb]

We've know that it wasn't just a modern disease for a long time, have we not?

'"There is no reason to think that cancer is a new disease," said Robert A. Weinberg, a cancer researcher at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., and the author of the textbook "The Biology of Cancer." "In former times, it was less common because people were struck down in midlife by other things." '

Source: http://www.nytimes.c...wanted=all&_r=0

Great new Avatar Elly

My son found it hilarious, asking "who's that goon Dad?"

[Eldorado]

My son found it hilarious, asking "who's that goon Dad?"

I hope you told him that 'goon' is Licensed to Kill and is also the father of Indiana Jones!

[JGirl]

i've never been under the impression that cancer is a modern disease. just because we can recognize it now doesn't mean ancient people didn't die from it, undiagnosed

[Junior Chubb]

I hope you told him that 'goon' is Licensed to Kill and is also the father of Indiana Jones!

And there was me thinking you were Mr Eastwood rather than Mr Connery

Edited March 19, 2014 by Junior Chubb

[little_dreamer]

i've never been under the impression that cancer is a modern disease. just because we can recognize it now doesn't mean ancient people didn't die from it, undiagnosed

I guess most people didn't live long enough then for cancer to manifest itself. Cancer risk goes up with age.

[qxcontinuum]

It is just an isolate case. There was no cancer in the past time. This disease is caused in modern times by our separation from nature , deeming ourselves with chemicals and pesticides. A small price to pay actually for what we are truly causing to mother nature.

Edited March 20, 2014 by qxcontinuum

[DecoNoir]

It is just an isolate case. There was no cancer in the past time. This disease is caused in modern times by our separation from nature , deeming ourselves with chemicals and pesticides. A small price to pay actually for what we are truly causing to mother nature.

Oh please. Got any science to back that up?

[coolguy]

I guess cancer goes back to the dawn of man kind

[DecoNoir]

I guess cancer goes back to the dawn of man kind

Likely even further. When you think about it, the only cancers that would be recorded in fossils are bone cancers and those that would effect the bone in some way. Factor this in with the small percentage of animals that would leave fossils, and one can see why we don't encounter it more.

[qxcontinuum]

Has been noticed during the ww2 and after that there were no cancer patiences .It was because ppl have ate less meet or agricultured food. There were more alternative food sources they needed to employ mostly raw. Processed food is also what is killing us slowly. Don't forget what cancer is. It is simple a mutation of our own cells triggered by chemical factors and food poisoning.

In the same time it can also be seen in our best close friends; dogs and cats. Wild animals are rarely found to have cancer while due to the food processing the poor companions are fed with, they will almost always develop cancers in their final stages of life.

Edited March 20, 2014 by qxcontinuum

[DecoNoir]

Has been noticed during the ww2 and after that there were no cancer patiences .It was because ppl have ate less meet or agricultured food. There were more alternative food sources they needed to employ mostly raw. Processed food is also what is killing us slowly. Don't forget what cancer is. It is simple a mutation of our own cells triggered by chemical factors and food poisoning.

In the same time it can also be seen in our best close friends; dogs and cats. Wild animals are rarely found to have cancer while due to the food processing the poor companions are fed with, they will almost always develop cancers in their final stages of life.

Sources. And if I find links in those sources proclaiming the measles vaccine to be the cause of childhood autism, you can count them out. Otherwise I might as well proclaim smallpox to be the work of evil boogie men.

You also failed to mention a much more common cause of mutation: UV radiation. Do I have to point out our proximity to a rather noticable hydrogen fuelled UV radiation producer we've had since before this planet formed?

[Junior Chubb]

There was no cancer in the past time.

The article you are commenting as well as general knowledge suggests otherwise.

There may be evidence to suggest factors in the modern world increase the chances of developing cancer, that is not being disputed or discussed in this thread. Knowing that cancer occurs naturally and has been with us for so long may be helpful with research to combating cancer and its causes, but it seems you would rather ignore this.

[Rafterman]

We've know that it wasn't just a modern disease for a long time, have we not?

'“There is no reason to think that cancer is a new disease,” said Robert A. Weinberg, a cancer researcher at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., and the author of the textbook “The Biology of Cancer.” “In former times, it was less common because people were struck down in midlife by other things.” '

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/health/28cancer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Sure we have, but a visit to any of thousands of food woo and alternative health websites would lead one to think otherwise.

[Chaldera]

All of these "cancer is solely a modern illness" claims remind me of a horror story I once read about a man who develops the ability to see a species of weird sickly humanoids that inject tumours (their egg sacs) into humans and,once they have developed sufficiently, the tumours 'hatch' and the offspring feast on their host. The guy then develops a theory that these parasites are attracted to advanced civilisations, hence why there is apparently no example of a famous cancer sufferer before the 1900s.

A load of codswallop of course, but it was a decent read and would be a more entertaining theory than "processed food is bad".

[Chaldera]

In the same time it can also be seen in our best close friends; dogs and cats. Wild animals are rarely found to have cancer while due to the food processing the poor companions are fed with, they will almost always develop cancers in their final stages of life.

I hate to argue, but the Tasmanian Devil is slowly decreasing in population size thanks in part to devil facial tumour disease, "an aggressive non-viral transmissable parasitic cancer". I felt it was a point worth making

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease

[qxcontinuum]

Some articles backing up my story that i quickly found;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320507/Cancer-purely-man-say-scientists-finding-trace-disease-Egyptian-mummies.html

The following article can show how the very same water we drink can be deadly causing cancer in beluga whales.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/wildlife-cancer

“We know that toxic compounds in the environment can cause cancer in humans, so it's not a far stretch to realize that pollutants can cause cancer in animals,” says Denise McAloose, a pathologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, who recently reviewed the topic in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer.

Animals have long been recognized as sentinels for human health hazards. Wildlife populations, such as the belugas, often interact with the same pollutants as people."

[qxcontinuum]

Once again i must remind everyone that cancer is a mutation of the cells under chemical and pollutant stress factors. It is transmittable genetic because will be encoded in the dna sequence of the offsprings. These are simply medical facts. It doesn't mean there couldn't be cases of happening in the past. There was natural radioactivity in the past to, and smoke, and chemicals but not at a large scale as we experience today.

As to paragraph a researcher that once said; " you are what you eat"

Edited March 20, 2014 by qxcontinuum

[maximusnow]

Thank god ..........now what?

[willowdreams]

Once again i must remind everyone that cancer is a mutation of the cells under chemical and pollutant stress factors. It is transmittable genetic because will be encoded in the dna sequence of the offsprings. These are simply medical facts. It doesn't mean there couldn't be cases of happening in the past. There was natural radioactivity in the past to, and smoke, and chemicals but not at a large scale as we experience today.

As to paragraph a researcher that once said; " you are what you eat"

http://cancer.about.com/od/historyofcancer/a/cancerhistory.htm

[willowdreams]

Keep in mind, not anyone here is saying that todays chemicals and diet and lazier lifestyle plus longer lifespan doesnt make cancer more of a common medical issue to have, but it does not change the fact that cancer is NOT a modern disease.