New research suggests that humans may be fighting cancer longer than thought. Scientists have discovered archaeological evidence that ancient Egyptians attempted to surgically remove cancerous lesions, dating the practice back to more than 4,000 years ago.
Previous research has found compelling evidence that ancient Egyptian physicians accurately described certain types of cancer, although a clear understanding of the disease and effective treatments did not appear in historical records until much later. To better understand how the disease was viewed in the region, scientists from Spain, the UK and Germany studied a pair of skulls housed in the Duckworth Collection at the University of Cambridge.
One specimen (236) contains a skull and mandible belonging to a man in his thirties who is believed to have lived between 2687 and 2345 BC. Another skull specimen, E270, belongs to a woman over 50 years old who lived between 663 and 343 BC.
Using microscopes, researchers found signs of large cancerous lesions in both skulls that caused extensive tissue damage. Skull 236, in particular, was dotted with smaller lesions that could be signs of advanced metastatic cancer. But to their surprise, the researchers also found cut marks around 236’s lesions, suggesting that his doctors were trying to surgically remove his cancer as much as possible, possibly using sharp metal instruments.
If the team’s findings are true, it would be the first documented instance of surgical cancer treatment in human history. What they found was publish Wednesday in diary Medical Frontier.
“When we looked through the microscope and saw the cut marks on the tumors, we were very skeptical at first, even though they were very clear,” said study co-author Edgard, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Edgard Camarós told Gizmodo in an article. “It took a while to realize that we were visualizing evidence of a milestone in the history of medicine.”
Sometimes, surgery alone can treat solid cancers, but surgery is most effective when the tumor is localized and caught early. But given the overall condition of 236’s skull and the authors’ conclusion that the incision marks were made mortem (meaning shortly before death), this particular treatment was almost certainly destined to fail. It’s also possible that the wound was performed shortly after death, which still shows that ancient Egyptian doctors were trying to understand this horrific pain thousands of years ago. Even officially named cancer.
The team’s work should provide new insights into the origins of medical care and the people who lived in ancient Egypt, the authors say. But archaeological remains are often incomplete, which means different scientists may have different assumptions about what the evidence tells us.
For example, the team also believes they have found evidence that skull 250 suffered past trauma and was successfully treated. Therefore, this woman may have been involved in some kind of war in the area. However, they note that more research and data are needed to verify this hunch and confirm and extend their findings about cancer in the ancient world.
“The next steps are to try to understand humans’ relationship with cancer during early stages of evolution and history,” Camaros said. “Our goal is to complete the biography of cancer from the very beginning of human history.”
