Ancient Egyptians may have performed cancer surgery, research shows
- Researchers found incision marks on ancient Egyptian skull
- They could be signs of early attempts to remove cancer
- Study could reframe understanding of when modern medicine began
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(NewsNation) — Markings on a skull have led researchers to believe humans were performing cancer surgery more than 4,000 years ago.
The report was published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine and has researchers rethinking when humans began practicing modern medicine.
The human skull comes from the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection and dates back to between 2686 and 2324 B.C., according to LiveScience.
Researchers found evidence of a large tumor and several metastatic lesions surrounded by incision marks.
The findings suggest ancient Egyptians tried to perform surgery to treat the patient, who was likely a man in his early 30s, according to the LiveScience report. Without the person’s full medical history, however, more specific details about his condition and potential treatments are hard for researchers to glean.
