Although cancer was documented and discussed thousands of years ago, it has been present in organisms since before humans existed. This suggests cancer is not a modern disease.
As prehistoric human remains reveal signs of cancer, the question remains: when was the earliest case of cancer discovered and documented in medical texts?
Osteosarcoma, Bone Cancer Cell
First Cancer Case
According to Live Science, the earliest known evidence of cancer in a human relative comes from the skeletal remains of an individual who lived approximately 1.7 million years ago in South Africa. The remains were discovered in Swartkrans cave, which is home to a significant concentration of human relative remains.
Researchers reported in the 2016 study that the fossils of the individual likely belonged to either the Paranthropus robustus or Homo ergaster species and had a malignant tumor in their left toe bone, which was identified as an aggressive form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma through comparison with modern-day cases.
As per the American Cancer Society, osteosarcoma is one of the most common bone cancers in humans today, primarily affecting children, teenagers, and young adults. The prehistoric individual's age is unknown, but it is believed that they were an adult.
Another benign tumor, dating back to 1.9 million years ago, was found in a human relative called Australopithecus sediba in South Africa. The study of cancer in fossils is complicated as organs, skin, and other soft tissues are prone to decay, whereas bones can survive in the fossil record.
Bruce Rothschild, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, explained that bone is one of the few tissues that can survive in the fossil record. However, even if cancer is present in a fossil, it may not be visible to the naked eye and would require an X-ray to identify, which is the case for the toe bone.
The discovery of cancer in a prehistoric human relative highlights that cancer is not a new disease and has been affecting humans and their relatives for millions of years. It also shows the importance of bone tissue in the fossil record as it provides evidence of cancer and other diseases that may not be visible through other tissues.
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History of Cancer: Earliest Text Mentioning the Disease
Very Well Mind reported that the earliest known mention of cancer is in a papyrus that documented the disease in ancient Egypt in 3000 BCE. The tumor was found in the breast and was treated by destroying the tissue through "cauterization."
In ancient Greece, in 460 BCE, Hippocrates believed that cancer was caused by an excess of black bile. Meanwhile, William Harvey's groundbreaking work in 1628 opened the door for further research on the workings of the human body. The 17th-century discovery of the lymphatic system led to the idea that problems in this part of the body could cause cancer, replacing Hippocrates' theory.
Further discovery by Johannes Mueller in 1838 showed that cancer is made of cells, and Karl Thiersch in 1860 was the first to prove that cancer spreads through malignant cells. In 1915, Katsusaburo Yamagiwa and Koichi Ichikawa showed that some substances are carcinogens by inducing cancer in rabbits through the application of coal tar.
Then in the 1970s, scientists discovered oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. These key moments in the history of cancer research have paved the way for modern advancements in cancer treatment and understanding.
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