The two skulls dating back to ancient Egypt and stored at the University of Cambridge (UK) may show the earliest known signs of cancer treatment.
According to a new study published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Medicine on May 29, thin cuts on one of the skulls dating back about 4,000 years could be signs of surgery to remove cancer or an autopsy for medical purposes.
The skull box is believed to belong to a man about 30 to 35 years old who lived between 2686 and 2345 BC, at the same time the Great Pyramid of Giza was built.
The skull box contains evidence of a large primary brain tumor as well as more than 30 smaller metastatic lesions. Researchers found that these lesions were surrounded by cuts made from a sharp object like a metal tool. This shows that the ancient Egyptians tried to perform surgery to treat patients.
The second skull box dates back to 664 to 343 BC and belongs to a woman over 50 years old who survived a fracture and tumor. Scientists have included the skull in research to learn about how the Egyptians cared for and treated the injured or sick.
The team discovered cuts and analysis of the second skull using a high-resolution 3D microcosm.
Two different types of lesion treated with two different methods date back to an important milestone in the history of medicine, wrote Tatiana Tondini, Albert Isidro and Edgard Camarin.
The ancient Egyptians had the most advanced medical knowledge in ancient times. After studying well-preserved human remains, scientists confirmed that the ancient Egyptians knew how to take care of their health at that time.
Evidence of dental prosthetics, grinding tooth and healing fractures has been found by scientists.
Researchers also believe that ancient Egyptian medicine is advanced enough to describe, classify and successfully treat specific diseases and injuries, including bone injuries.
The cancer was previously found in human remains, the oldest case dating back 1.7 million years. But according to the authors, the latest discovery reinforces the idea that cancer is much more common than previously suspected.
In the future, the research team hopes to look back in time to learn more about how people deal with cancer for many millennia.
Co-author of the study, Edgard Camaros Perez, an paleontologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, said: If we knew that more than 4,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians tried to learn about surgery to treat cancer, we would be completely convinced that this is just the beginning of something that began thousands of years ago.
