Prehistoric Female Skeleton May be the Oldest Case of Leukemia

Scientists may have discovered what might be the oldest case of leukemia. They've uncovered a 7,000-year-old skeleton that has indications of cancer that once belonged to a woman who died between the ages of 30 and 40.

During the Neolithic age, infectious diseases, deficiency symptoms and degenerative changes were commonplace. Understanding how the people in the past died, though, could tell scientists a bit more about how humans evolved.

In this latest study, the researchers compared the humerus of the 7,000-year-old skeleton with humeri of 11 individuals from the same site in southern Germany, where they were excavated between 1982 and 1993.

In adults, the ends of the humeri and the sternum, as well as the vertebrae, ribs, skull, pelvis and the ends of the femurs contain hematopoietic stem cells. In these locations, leukemia can occur.

In the case of the woman's skeleton, the researchers found an unusual loosening of the interior bone tissue, the cancellous bone, in the upper right humerus and the sternum.

"None of the other specimens showed this significant pattern," said Heike Scherf, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Even though they come from the same site and belong to the same age group."

The researchers actually ruled out other diseases that caused similar symptoms, as well. It seemed as if it was, indeed, leukemia.

"The biological age and the restriction of the findings to the humerus and sternum counter-indicate osteoporosis," said Scherf. "Hyperparathyroidism, a hyperfunction of the parathyroid gland, can be ruled out because typical characteristics for this pathology, which manifest in other parts of the skeleton, such as the skull and the finger bones were not found."

So what does this mean? It appears as if this woman did suffer from leukemia, which makes the skeleton the oldest evidence of leukemia to date.

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