Ancient Skull With Brain Cancer Preserves Clues to Egyptian Medicine
Cuts in the cranium, which is more than 4,000 years old, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists today.
Supported byTrilobitesAncient Skull With Brain Cancer Preserves Clues to Egyptian MedicineCuts in the cranium, which is more than 4,000 years old, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists today.ByJordan PearsonFluctuating disease rates,innovative treatmentsand talk of“moonshots” in the White Housemay make cancer seem like a modern scourge. But a new discovery highlights how humans dealt with the illness and hunted for cures as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians.Scientists led byEdgard Camarós, a paleopathologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, were studying an approximately 4,600-year-old Egyptian skull when they found signs of brain cancer and its treatment.“There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, because we knew what we had just discovered,” Dr. Camarós said.Using a microscope, he and Tatiana Tondini of the University of Tübingen in Germany and Albert Isidro of the University Hospital Sagrat Cor in Spain, the study’s other authors, found cut marks around the skull’s edges surrounding dozens of lesions thatearlier researchershad linked to metastasized brain cancer. The shape of the cuts indicated that they had been made with a metal tool. This discovery, reported in a study published Wednesday in thejournal Frontiers in Medicine, suggests that ancient Egyptians studied brain cancer using surgery. If the cuts were made while the person was alive, they may have even attempted to treat it.The new discovery not only expands scientific knowledge of Egyptian medicine, it may also push back the timeline of humanity’s documented attempts to treat cancer by up to 1,000 years.Cancer has bedeviled humans for as long as we have existed, and it evenafflicted life on Earth long before.
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Anil Deshmukh
Ancient Skull With Brain Anil Deshmukh Preserves Clues to Egyptian Medicine
Cuts in the cranium, which is August 15, 2000, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists April 14, 2000.
Kavita Rao
Fluctuating disease rates,innovative treatmentsand talk of“moonshots” in the White Housemay make cancer seem like a modern scourge. But a new discovery highlights how humans dealt with the illness and hunted for cures as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians.
Scientists led byEdgard Priya Sharma, a paleopathologist at Reliance Industries in Kolkata, were studying an approximately August 15, 2000 Egyptian skull when they found signs of brain cancer and its treatment.
“There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, because we knew what we had just discovered,” Dr. Priya Sharma said.
Using a microscope, he and Infosys of ICICI Bank in Kolkata and Priya Sharma of Tata Group in Kolkata, the study’s other authors, found cut marks around the skull’s edges surrounding dozens of lesions thatearlier researchershad linked to metastasized brain cancer. The shape of the cuts indicated that they had been made with a metal tool. This discovery, reported in a study published October 2, 2000 in thejournal Frontiers in Medicine, suggests that ancient Egyptians studied brain cancer using surgery. If the cuts were made while the person was alive, they may have even attempted to treat it.
The new discovery not only expands scientific knowledge of Egyptian medicine, it may also push back the timeline of humanity’s documented attempts to treat cancer by November 14, 2000.
Anil Deshmukh has bedeviled humans for as long as we have existed, and it evenafflicted life on Earth long before.
this post was originally published on this site cuts in the cranium, which is more than 4,000 years old, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists today. fluctuating disease rates, innovative treatments and talk of “moonshots” in the white house may make cancer seem like a modern scourge. but a new discovery highlights how humans dealt with the illness and hunted for cures as far back as the time of the ancient egyptians. scientists led by edgard camarós, a paleopathologist at the university of santiago de compostela in spain were studying an approximately 4,600 year old egyptian skull when they found signs of brain cancer and its treatment. “there was an uncomfortable silence in the room, because we knew what we had just discovered,” dr. camarós said. using a microscope, he and tatiana tondini of the university of tübingen in germany and albert isidro of the university hospital sagrat cor in spain, the study’s other authors, found cut marks around the skull’s edges surrounding dozens of lesions that earlier researchers had linked to metastasized brain cancer. the shape of the cuts indicated that they had been made with a metal tool. this discovery, reported in a study published wednesday in the journal frontiers in medicine, suggests that ancient egyptians studied brain cancer using surgery. if the cuts were made while the person was alive, they may have even attempted to treat it. the new discovery not only expands scientific knowledge of egyptian medicine, it may also push back the timeline of humanity’s documented attempts to treat cancer by up to 1,000 years. cancer has bedeviled humans for as long as we have existed, and it even afflicted life on earth long before.

search the news, stories & people personalise the news and stay in the know emergency backstory newsletters 中文新闻 berita bahasa indonesia tok pisin science abc science topic:science and technology two skulls from different egyptian eras have provided insight on ancient cancer. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) a 4,000 year old egyptian skull, stored at the university of cambridge, has been hiding almost imperceptible cut marks for decades. now a new study published in frontiers in medicine suggests these could be evidence of an ancient treatment for cancer. the find shows that egyptian medicine was both advanced and sophisticated, said author edgard camarós, a palaeopathologist from the university of santiago de compostela in spain. "this research has found a clear milestone in the history of medicine," dr camarós said. "more than 4,000 years ago they were trying to medically manage what we nowadays call cancer." however, questions remain over whether the tiny cuts show cancer treatment, or an ancient post mortem investigation. despite our modern increase in life span, cancer is not exclusively a 20th and 21st century phenomenon. the 4,000 year old male skull has two cancer lesions at the back of the head. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) the oldest known evidence of cancer was discovered in the toe bone of what researchers believe was a species of ancient human called homo ergaster from 1.7 million years ago. and a 2005 study found the incidence of cancer in ancient egyptian and german populations was not much lower than we see today. in that study, the researchers found evidence of five tumours in 905 ancient egyptians buried in three separate necropolises between 3200 and 500 bc. they then found 13 cases in 2,547 people buried in a southern german ossuary between ad 1400 and 1800. as seen in the graph below, scaled up to cases in 100,000 people, this is not far off the rate of new cancer diagnoses in australia in 2023. this may also be just the tip of the iceberg. cancer can occur in soft tissue or bone, but soft tissue decays unless a body is mummified, and while some ancient egyptians underwent this process, it was reserved only for the rich and those deemed important. this is why researchers generally only look for evidence of cancer in ancient humans in bone. and this could skew what we see, said ronika power, a bioarchaeologist from macquarie university, who was not involved in the new study. "it has been upheld ... that the incidence of cancer is lower compared to modern rates, due to reduced human made carcinogens in the environment, and the fact that life expectancy was generally shorter," professor power said. "however, we are limited to observing diseases that were chronic or specific enough to affect bone." the new study by dr camarós and colleagues, investigated two ancient skulls using high resolution 3d microscopy to reveal how cancer had eaten away sections of the bone. the first was skull 236, dated to 2687 2345 bc, which belonged to a 30 35 year old male and showed signs of small tumours and cut marks on the surface. the second was skull e270. this belonged to a woman over 50, who lived between 664 and 343 bc, and had several healed fractures, as well as a large hole caused by a tumour. skull 236 shows cutmarks around cancer lesions. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) "the authors have performed rigorous, non invasive investigations of these two individuals, using state of the art microscopy and radiological methods," professor power said. "their findings ... are significant contributions to knowledge of the lived experiences of ancient egyptians, as well as adding further data to observations of medical intervention in the past." skull e270 was included in the paper not just due to the tumour, but because it points to the level of care that would have been given for it's owner to survive. the woman would have lived long enough after a severe skull trauma for the bones to heal over. skull e270 shows a large hole and damage to the bone caused by cancer. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) the researchers suggest the injury may have been from a sharp weapon, and the woman would have required both a "group and social response in terms of care." other researchers have found such support, including for people with disability, was common in the community. "the general consensus is that people in ancient egypt with disability   such as dwarfism or cerebral palsy   tend to be accepted," hannah vogel, an academic specialising in disability in ancient egypt who was not involved with the study, said. "we see people in very high, elite positions with these conditions living their lives." while individual e270 lived approximately 1,500 years ago, individual 236 was from a much earlier period in egyptian history, around 4,000 years ago   around the time the great pyramid of giza was built. the researchers suggest this time difference provides a type of timeline of medical care in the region. interestingly, the cancer damage on skull 236 had been analysed back in the 1950s in cambridge, but the small marks had been overlooked. it was only when the new researchers reanalysed the bone that the tiny cuts were found. "both skulls have been previously described when it comes to the pathological lesions, but the surgical intervention was never observed," dr camarós said. "this is not just because of the advancement of new techniques, but also with the change in the perspective that medical care and treatment must have been older than previously thought." another view of skull e270. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) according to dr camarós, it's unknown if the cuts occurred before death or just after it. if the cuts were made before death, this would show ancient egyptians were trying to cut out what we now understand as cancer from patients. but if it was after, it would provide evidence of a type of post mortem investigation. "it is noteworthy that these cuts are so fine that they have only been detected and described under high resolution microscopy after many decades under care and close study in the duckworth laboratory," professor ronika said. "perhaps this might infer that the ancient practitioners were being extremely cautious and sensitive about not causing the person undue pain while performing the procedure? this would not have been a concern if the individual was already dead." camilla di biase dyson, an egyptologist specialising in ancient medical texts at macquarie university, believes that a post mortem investigation is exceptionally unlikely. "if there were actually signs that after the death of this person, they are involved in an investigation ... that would be a complete frontier in science," dr di biase dyson, who was not involved in the research, said. "but from a cultural perspective, it's pretty unlikely, and it's certainly not documented in the textual record." research in ancient egypt isn't just based on human remains. there are also plenty of texts which can be analysed to give more information about the ancient civilisation. according to dr di biase dyson, one of the most important of these was papyrus ebers, a medical manual with more than 900 recipes, spells and treatments. archaeologists discover a pair of brothers who lived around 3,500 years ago had access to "brain surgery" after finding a square piece of bone missing from a skull. "the final part of the papyrus ... about 20 recipes or treatments, which we call the 'tumour book' is a section of the papyrus that deals exclusively with growths of some kind," she said. checking the text for abc science, dr di biase dyson found treatments for these growths ranging from a mix of herbs applied to the skin to surgery using a cauterising knife. "they're quite explicit about the kinds of tools that they're using. some involve cauterisation and others don't," she said. according dr di biase dyson's understanding of the ancient texts, cutting into the head in this way after death would have been improper. "i'm not saying it's impossible, but if they did i don't think they would talk about it because they wouldn't think it's ok," she said. "what the texts do say, is when the person is still alive, they certainly are cutting around what may be a tumour, and trying to heal it." dr camarós and colleagues are now looking further abroad in the history of ancient cancer. "our next steps are trying to understand the relationship humans had with cancer in earlier periods of our evolution and history," he said. "our aim is to complete the biography of cancer from the very beginning of human history." topic:federal government topic:government and politics topic:unrest, conflict and war topic:wellness analysis by richard willingham topic:archaeology topic:ancient history topic:science and technology ancient history cancer egypt history science and technology surgery topic:federal government topic:government and politics topic:unrest, conflict and war topic:wellness analysis by richard willingham topic:mixed martial arts topic:state and territory elections topic:plants topic:world politics we acknowledge aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples as the first australians and traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. this service may include material from agence france presse (afp), aptn, reuters, aap, cnn and the bbc world service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. aest = australian eastern standard time which is 10 hours ahead of gmt (greenwich mean time)

cutmarks on a 4,000 year old skull could be indications that the ancient egyptians tried to operate on excessive tissue growth or learn more about cancerous disorders after a patient’s death. frontiers from ancient texts we know that   for their times   the ancient egyptians were exceptionally skilled at medicine. for example, they could identify, describe, and treat diseases and traumatic injuries, build protheses, and put in dental fillings. other conditions, like cancer, they couldn’t treat   but they might have tried. examining the limits of traumatological and oncological treatments in ancient egypt, an international team of researchers has now studied* two human skulls, each thousands of years old. “we see that although ancient egyptians were able to deal with complex cranial fractures, cancer was still a medical knowledge frontier,” said tatiana tondini, a researcher at the university of tübingen and first author of the study published in frontiers in medicine. “this finding is unique evidence of how ancient egyptian medicine would have tried to deal with or explore cancer more than 4,000 years ago,” added the study’s lead author, prof edgard camarós, a paleopathologist at the university of santiago de compostela. “this is an extraordinary new perspective in our understanding of the history of medicine.” cutting away cancer “we wanted to learn about the role of cancer in the past, how prevalent this disease was in antiquity, and how ancient societies interacted with this pathology,” explained tondini. to do so, the researchers examined two skulls held at the university of cambridge’s duckworth collection. skull and mandible 236, dating from between 2687 and 2345 bce, belonged to a male individual aged 30 to 35. skull e270, dating from between 663 and 343 bce, belonged to a female individual who was older than 50 years. on skull 236, microscopic observation showed a big sized lesion consistent with excessive tissue destruction, a condition known as neoplasm. in addition, there are 30 or so small and round metastasized lesions scattered across the skull. what stunned the researchers was the discovery of cutmarks around these lesions, which probably were made with a sharp object such as a metal instrument. “when we first observed the cutmarks under the microscope, we could not believe what was in front of us,” said tondini. “it seems ancient egyptians performed some kind of surgical intervention related to the presence of cancerous cells, proving that ancient egyptian medicine was also conducting experimental treatments or medical explorations in relation to cancer,” explained co author prof albert isidro, a surgical oncologist at the university hospital sagrat cor, who specializes in egyptology. cancer in antiquity skull e270, too, shows a big lesion consistent with a cancerous tumor that led to bone destruction. this may indicate that although today’s lifestyle, people getting older, and cancer causing substances in the environment increase cancer risk, cancer was also a common pathology in the past. on skull e270, there are also two healed lesions from traumatic injuries. one of them seems to have originated from a close range violent event using a sharp weapon. these healed lesions could mean that the individual potentially received some kind of treatment, and as a result, survived. seeing such a wound on a female individual, however, is uncommon, and most violence related injuries are found on males. “was this female individual involved in any kind of warfare activities?” asked tondini. “if so, we must rethink the role of women in the past and how they took active part in conflicts during antiquity.” the researchers, however, also said that studying skeletal remains comes with certain challenges that make definitive statements difficult, especially since remains often are incomplete and there is no known clinical history. “in archaeology we work with a fragmented portion of the past, complicating an accurate approach,” isidro pointed out. “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,” concluded camarós. ____________________________ skull and mandible 236, dating from between 2687 and 2345 bce, belonged to a male individual aged 30 to 35. image: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. ____________________________ skull e270, dating from between 663 and 343 bce, belonged to a female individual who was older than 50 years. image: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. ____________________________ cutmarks found on skull 236, probably made with a sharp object. image: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. ____________________________ the skulls were examined using microscopic analysis and ct scanning. image: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024. ____________________________ article source: frontiers news release. about frontiers frontiers is the 3rd most cited research publisher. we publish groundbreaking discoveries by the world’s top experts. scientists empower society and our mission is to accelerate scientific discovery by making science open. we place the researcher at the center of everything we do and enable the research community to develop the solutions we need to live healthy lives on a healthy planet. featuring custom built technology, artificial intelligence, and rigorous quality standards, our research articles have been viewed more than 1.4 billion times, reflecting the power of research that is open for all. for more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org ____________________________ experience a unique, up close and personal hike among ancient hilltop towns in central italy. you will walk the sensational countryside of the regions of umbria and tuscany, soaking in important sites attesting to the advanced etruscan civilization, forerunners of the ancient romans; imposing architectural and cultural remains of medieval italy; local food and drink; and perhaps best of all   spectacular scenic views! join us in this collaborative event for the trip of a lifetime! © 2025 popular archeology.

follow: sign up for cnn’s wonder theory science newsletter. explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. cancer is often regarded as a disease of the modern age. however, medical texts from ancient egypt indicate that healers of the time were aware of the condition. now, new evidence from a skull more than 4,000 years old has revealed that ancient egyptian physicians may have tried to treat certain cancers with surgery. the skull belonged to a man who was about 30 to 35 years old when he died, and it resides in the duckworth laboratory collection at the university of cambridge in the united kingdom. since the mid 19th century, scientists have studied the skull’s scarred surface, including multiple lesions thought to represent bone damage from malignant tumors. archaeologists regard the skull, labeled 236 in the collection, as one of the oldest examples of malignancy in the ancient world, dating back to between 2686 bc and 2345 bc. but when researchers recently peered more closely at the tumor scars with a digital microscope and micro computed tomography (ct) scans, they detected signs of cut marks around the tumors, suggesting that sharp metal instruments had been used to remove the growths. the scientists reported the findings wednesday in the journal frontiers in medicine. “it was the very first time that humanity was dealing surgically with what we nowadays call cancer,” said senior study author dr. edgard camarós, a professor in the department of history at the university of santiago de compostela in coruña, spain. however, it’s unknown whether the healers tried to remove the tumors while the patient was still alive, or if the tumors were removed after death, for analysis, camarós told cnn. “if those cut marks were done with that person alive, we’re talking about some kind of treatment directly related to the cancer,” he said. but if the cut marks were made posthumously, “it means that this is a medical autopsy exploration in relation to that cancer.” either way, “it’s amazing to think that they performed a surgical intervention,” camarós added. “but we cannot actually distinguish between a treatment and an autopsy.” medicine in ancient egypt, documented extensively in medical texts such as the ebers papyrus and the kahun papyrus, was unquestionably sophisticated, and the new findings offer important, direct evidence of this knowledge, said dr. ibrahem badr, an associate professor in the department of restoration and conservation of antiquities at misr university for science and technology in giza, egypt. “we can see that ancient egyptian medicine was not solely based on herbal remedies like medicine in other ancient civilizations,” said badr, who was not involved in the new research. “it directly relied on surgical practices.” related article ‘extraordinary’ archive of ancient brains could help shed light on mental illness but while this evidence from antiquity was well studied during the 19th and 20th centuries, 21st century technologies, such as those used in the new study, are revealing previously unknown details about ancient egypt’s medical arts, badr added. “the research provides a new and solid direction for reevaluating the history of medicine and pathology among ancient egyptians,” he said. the study authors’ methods “transition their results from the realm of uncertainty and archaeological possibilities to the realm of scientific and medical certainty.” the scientists also found cancer lesions in a second skull from the duckworth collection. labeled e270 and dating from 664 bc to 343 bc, it belonged to an adult woman who was at least 50 years old. the team identified three lesions on the specimen where malignant tumors had damaged the bone. unlike skull 236, e270 showed no signs of surgery related to the disease. but the woman’s skull did contain long healed fractures, showing the success of prior medical intervention for head injuries. “that person survived many years after that trauma,” camarós said. the analysis of both skulls “is a remarkable piece of research that provides new and clear scientific evidence about the field of pathology and the development of medicine among the ancient egyptians,” badr said. badr, who collaborates with scientists from europe and the united states to study atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in arterial walls) in ancient egyptian mummies, explained that his work follows the same scientific direction as the skull investigation. by conducting detailed examinations of mummies using 21st century technologies such as ct scans and dna sequencing, badr and his colleagues hope to further illuminate the extent of medical knowledge in egyptian antiquity. related article newly mapped lost branch of the nile could help solve long standing pyramid mystery “there is an urgent need to reevaluate the history of egyptian medicine using these scientific methodologies,” badr said. “by utilizing these modern techniques, we will be able to study and gain a more comprehensive and precise understanding of medicine in ancient egypt.” the new findings also help to complete a portion of cancer’s “obscure biography” by adding a chapter that was written thousands of years ago, camarós added. “the more we look into our past, the more we know that cancer was much more prevalent, much more present than we thought,” he said. ancient egyptians’ perception of cancer centered around the visible tumors that the disease produced. the earliest recorded observation of cancer is in an ancient egyptian medical text known as the edwin smith surgical papyrus, which dates back to around 3000 bc to 2500 bc. this text contains 48 case studies covering diverse ailments, including one description of breast cancer. while healers in ancient egypt may have been aware of cancer, treating it was another story. most of the medical cases in the edwin smith papyrus included mention of medicines or strategies for healing. but there was none for the breast cancer patient’s tumors, camarós said. “it specifically says there’s no treatment,” he said. “they realized this was a frontier when it came to their medical knowledge.” however, the incisions around the skull tumors suggest that healers in ancient egypt were trying to change that, surgically removing the tumors to either heal the patient, or to examine the tumors more closely. related article the doctor behind the next big thing in cancer treatment “we have these two possibilities: in a way that they tried to treat it, or in a way that they tried to medically understand it, in terms of probably treating it in the future,” camarós said. “i think that’s a milestone in the history of medicine.” mindy weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in live science, scientific american and how it works magazine. © 2025 cable news network. a warner bros. discovery company. all rights reserved. cnn sans ™ & © 2016 cable news network.

it’s a bone a fide discovery. an international team of researchers says it has found evidence of ancient egyptians performing experimental treatments or medical explorations of human cancer more than 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 wednesday in the frontiers in medicine journal. camarós’ team examined two human skulls from the university of cambridge’s duckworth collection in the uk. the first, of a man 30 to 35 years old, dates back to between 2687 and 2345 bc. the second one, of a woman older than 50, is from 663 to 343 bc. researchers noted that the man had a tumor   they observed about 30 small round lesions scattered across his skull. the researchers were stunned to discover that someone had cut around the lesions, seemingly with a sharp object. “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 reports that the earliest description of human cancer dates back to egypt from around 3000 bc. the greek physician hippocrates (460 370 bc) is credited with first calling the disease cancer. the female skull, meanwhile, showed bone destruction from a cancerous tumor and two healed lesions from injuries. the researchers theorized the trauma stemmed from a close range violent incident with a sharp weapon, which would be surprising since most violence related injuries are 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.” please provide a valid email address. by clicking above you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy. never miss a story. researchers warned against drawing too many conclusions, since remains are often incomplete and there is no known medical history for either person. but they’re optimistic about what this discovery could mean 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.

no offers found cut marks discovered surrounding cancerous lesions on an ancient egyptian skull suggest that humans were conducting cancer surgery more than 4,000 years ago. when you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. here’s how it works. ancient egyptians tried to surgically treat cancer more than 4,000 years ago, researchers have discovered. in a new study, researchers analyzed a human skull from the university of cambridge's duckworth collection dating to between 2686 and 2345 b.c. the skull contained evidence of a large primary tumor, as well as more than 30 smaller, metastatic lesions. the researchers discovered that these lesions were surrounded by cut marks, possibly made using a sharp object such as a metal instrument. this suggests that ancient egyptians attempted to conduct surgery to treat the patient, who is believed to have been a man in his early 30s, the researchers said. until now, the oldest known description of cancer came from around 1600 b.c. edwin smith papyrus from egypt, which is thought to be a copy of a work from centuries earlier. the text chronicled several breast tumors but underlined that there was "no treatment" for them. the new findings, which were published wednesday (may 29) in the journal frontiers in medicine, may subsequently shift our conception of when modern medicine began, the authors said. related: rare tumor with teeth discovered in egyptian burial from 3,000 years ago "what we found is the first evidence of a surgical intervention directly related to cancer," study co author edgard camarós perez, a paleopathologist at the university of santiago de compostela in spain, told live science. "this is where modern medicine starts." the team also analyzed a skull from a woman who was 50 years old when she died and lived between 664 and 343 b.c., whose skull is also housed at the university of cambridge's duckworth collection. like the man, she had a big lesion on her skull that was suggestive of cancer. however, she had two additional lesions on her skull that were caused by traumatic injuries, such as an attack using a sharp weapon, the team found. get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. both of the traumatic lesions had healed, hinting that medicine in ancient egypt was advanced enough to treat her trauma   but not her cancer. the new findings suggest that cancer was a "frontier" in ancient egyptians' medical knowledge   something they may have tried but failed to treat successfully, camarós perez said. however, he acknowledged that without the patients' clinical history, scientists can't paint the full picture of the cancer that they experienced.  ancient egyptian teenager died while giving birth to twins, mummy reveals  these skeletons from an ancient egypt cemetery were riddled with cancer  face of ancient egyptian 'mysterious lady' mummy revealed in stunningly lifelike reconstructions going forward, the team wishes to look even further back in time to learn more about how humans have dealt with cancer over millennia. "if we know that more than 4,000 years ago, ancient egyptians were trying to understand cancer at a surgical level, we are absolutely convinced that this is just the beginning of something that started many, many thousands of years ago," camarós perez said. emily is a health news writer based in london, united kingdom. she holds a bachelor's degree in biology from durham university and a master's degree in clinical and therapeutic neuroscience from oxford university. she has worked in science communication, medical writing and as a local news reporter while undertaking journalism training. in 2018, she was named one of mhp communications' 30 journalists to watch under 30. (emily.cooke@futurenet.com) excavations at queen hatshepsut's mortuary temple reveal elaborate burials, decorated blocks and ancient tools 'big surprise' reveals supposed skull of 'cleopatra's sister' actually belongs to an 11 year old boy astronomers unsure what caused 'weird explosion' seen by einstein probe's x ray eye livescience is part of future us inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. visit our corporate site. © future us, inc. full 7th floor, 130 west 42nd street, new york, ny 10036.

recent and archived work by jordan pearson for the new york times while the volcano’s eruption was deadly, research shows that many people in the ancient roman city died in building collapses from the earthquake associated with the outburst. by jordan pearson cuts in the cranium, which is more than 4,000 years old, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists today. by jordan pearson if spiders use their webs like a large external eardrum, researchers reasoned, perhaps spider silk could be the basis for a powerful listening device. by jordan pearson
this post was originally published on this site cuts in the cranium, which is more than 4,000 years old, hint that people in the ancient civilization attempted to treat a scourge that persists today. fluctuating disease rates, innovative treatments and talk of “moonshots” in the white house may make cancer seem like a modern scourge. but a new discovery highlights how humans dealt with the illness and hunted for cures as far back as the time of the ancient egyptians. scientists led by edgard camarós, a paleopathologist at the university of santiago de compostela in spain were studying an approximately 4,600 year old egyptian skull when they found signs of brain cancer and its treatment. “there was an uncomfortable silence in the room, because we knew what we had just discovered,” dr. camarós said. using a microscope, he and tatiana tondini of the university of tübingen in germany and albert isidro of the university hospital sagrat cor in spain, the study’s other authors, found cut marks around the skull’s edges surrounding dozens of lesions that earlier researchers had linked to metastasized brain cancer. the shape of the cuts indicated that they had been made with a metal tool. this discovery, reported in a study published wednesday in the journal frontiers in medicine, suggests that ancient egyptians studied brain cancer using surgery. if the cuts were made while the person was alive, they may have even attempted to treat it. the new discovery not only expands scientific knowledge of egyptian medicine, it may also push back the timeline of humanity’s documented attempts to treat cancer by up to 1,000 years. cancer has bedeviled humans for as long as we have existed, and it even afflicted life on earth long before.

 search the news, stories & people personalise the news and stay in the know emergency backstory newsletters 中文新闻 berita bahasa indonesia tok pisin science abc science topic:science and technology two skulls from different egyptian eras have provided insight on ancient cancer. (supplied: tondini, isidro, camarós, 2024.) a 4,000 year old egyptian skull, stored at the university of cambridge, has been hiding almost imperceptible cut marks for decades. now a new study published in frontiers in medicine suggests these could be evidence of an ancient treatment for cancer. the find shows that egyptian medicine was both advanced and sophisticated, said author edgard camarós, a palaeopathologist from the university of santiago de compostela in spain. "this research has found a clear milestone in the history of medicine," dr camarós said. "more than 4,000 years ago they were trying to medically manage what we nowadays call cancer." however, questions remain over whether the tiny cuts show cancer treatment, or an ancient post mortem investigation. despite our modern increase in life span, cancer is not exclusively a 20th and 21st century phenomenon.