2 research outputs found
Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease
We describe the earliest evidence for neoplastic disease in the hominin lineage. This is reported
from the type specimen of the extinct hominin Australopithecus sediba from Malapa, South Africa,
dated to 1.98 million years ago. The affected individual was male and developmentally equivalent
to a human child of 12 to 13 years of age. A penetrating lytic lesion affected the sixth thoracic
vertebra. The lesion was macroscopically evaluated and internally imaged through phase-contrast
X-ray synchrotron microtomography. A comprehensive differential diagnosis was undertaken
based on gross- and micro-morphology of the lesion, leading to a probable diagnosis of osteoid
osteoma. These neoplasms are solitary, benign, osteoid and bone-forming tumours, formed from
well-vascularised connective tissue within which there is active production of osteoid and woven
bone. Tumours of any kind are rare in archaeological populations, and are all but unknown in
the hominin record, highlighting the importance of this discovery. The presence of this disease
at Malapa predates the earliest evidence of malignant neoplasia in the hominin fossil record by
perhaps 200 000 years.NCS201
Earliest hominin cancer: 1.7-million-year- old osteosarcoma from Swartkrans Cave, South Africa
The reported incidence of neoplasia in the extinct human lineage is rare, with only a few confirmed
cases of Middle or Later Pleistocene dates reported. It has generally been assumed that premodern
incidence of neoplastic disease of any kind is rare and limited to benign conditions,
but new fossil evidence suggests otherwise. We here present the earliest identifiable case of
malignant neoplastic disease from an early human ancestor dated to 1.8–1.6 million years old.
The diagnosis has been made possible only by advances in 3D imaging methods as diagnostic
aids. We present a case report based on re-analysis of a hominin metatarsal specimen (SK 7923)
from the cave site of Swartkrans in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. The expression
of malignant osteosarcoma in the Swartkrans specimen indicates that whilst the upsurge in
malignancy incidence is correlated with modern lifestyles, there is no reason to suspect that
primary bone tumours would have been any less frequent in ancient specimens. Such tumours
are not related to lifestyle and often occur in younger individuals. As such, malignancy has a
considerable antiquity in the fossil record, as evidenced by this specimen.NCS201