Researchers
from the University Of Manchester, United Kingdom, have concluded that cancer
is a purely modern, man-made disease.
In
the United Kingdom alone, Cancer claims more than 150,000 lives each year.
Statistics also show that about one in three people in the United Kingdom is
likely to get cancer.
The
researchers spent a great deal of time studying mummies, fossils and classical
literature before arriving at their conclusion.
The
researchers said the disease is a man-made disease fuelled by the excesses of
modern life. This is because tumors were rare until recent times, when
pollution and poor diet became an issue.
In
the study of Egyptian mummies, for example, the researchers found no signs of
cancer in many of them—with the exception of one isolated case. Slivers of
tissue from hundreds of Egyptian mummies were rehydrated and placed under the
microscope. The researchers found only one case of cancer in the mummies
examined.
In
the past, some researchers have argued that the ancient Egyptians did not live
long enough to develop cancer. To dismiss this weak argument, the researchers
pointed out that other age-related disease, such as hardening of the arteries
and brittle bones, occurred during this time.
The
journal Nature Reviews Cancer reports that fossil evidence of cancer is not
solid, with scientific literature providing a few dozen, mostly disputed,
examples in animal fossils. Even the study of thousands of Neanderthal bones
has provided only one example of a possible cancer.
Evidence
of cancer in ancient Egyptian texts is also tenuous, with cancer-like problems
more likely being caused by leprosy or even varicose veins. It is said the
ancient Greeks were probably the first to define cancer as a specific disease,
and to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors.
The
17th century provides the first descriptions of operations for breast and other
cancers. However, the first reports in scientific literature of distinctive
tumors only occurred in the past 200 years. Nasal cancer in snuff users
appeared in 1761. Scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps was also discovered in 1775.
Lead
researcher of this current study, Michael Zimmerman said there should have been
plenty of cancer-related evidence available in ancient societies because they
lacked effective healthcare.
“In
an ancient society lacking surgical intervention, evidence of cancer should
remain in all cases. The virtual absence of malignancies in mummies must be
interpreted as indicating their rarity in antiquity, indicating that
cancer-causing factors are limited to societies affected by modern
industrialization,” Zimmerman said.
Professor
Rosalie David, who also played a key role in the analysis of the possible
reference to the disease in classical literature, fossil records and mummified
bodies, said:
“In
industrialized societies, cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a
cause of death. But in ancient times, it was extremely rare. There is nothing
in the natural environment that can cause cancer. So it has to be a man-made
disease, down to pollution and changes to our diet and lifestyle. The important
thing about our study is that it gives a historical perspective to this
disease. We can make very clear statements on the cancer rates in societies
because we have a full overview. We have looked at millennia, not one hundred
years, and have masses of data. Yet again extensive ancient Egyptian data, along
with other data from across the millennia, has given modern society a clear
message – cancer is man-made and something that we can and should address.”
The
researchers recommended a healthy diet, regular physical activity and
maintenance of a healthy weight. These three lifestyle choices are believed to
be able to prevent about a third of the most common cancers known to
researchers.