Detecting the remains of cancer patients 4,500 years ago

Scientists unearthed a 4,500-year-old skeleton in Siberia, Russia, and determined that this could be the oldest evidence of metastatic cancer in humans.

Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and George Mason University (USA) found this skeleton in a small burial site in the Sisian Cis-Baikal region. The skeleton belongs to a man between the ages of 35-45.

Skeletons were discovered in Siberia, Russia, with evidence of metastatic cancer.(Photo: Canadian Press)

Angela Lieverse, a member of the research team, said they can be really confident when saying that this is a case of cancer. Lung cancer or prostate cancer has spread throughout this person's body.

"This man has constant pain and may have coughed up blood," Huffington Post quoted Daniel Temple as saying.

Evidence of cancer has been known in skeletons dating from 5,000 to 6,000 years, but scientists have not been able to determine whether these cases are related to benign tumors. The team's findings, published on December 4 in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, may challenge the diagnosis that cancer is just a disease of today.

A set of 3,200-year-old remains in Sudan is also thought to be a case of metastatic cancer. The skeleton belonged to an adult man, aged 25-35, who lived around 1200 BC.