Diagnosis of the Pathology of the Kanam Mandible

Phelan, Joan; Weiner, Matt; Ricci, John L.; Plummer, Thomas W.; Gauld, Suellen C.; Potts, Richard; Bromage, Timothy G.

doi:10.1016/j.tripleo.2006.12.041

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…This fossil is generally thought to derive from the Lower or Middle Pleistocene, and expresses pathological growth in the symphysial region. The lesion has been attributed to osteosarcoma, bone keloid, or Burkitt's lymphoma, although some researchers have diagnosed it as osteomyelitis resulting from a facial fracture [49][50][51][52] . The first substantive evidence for malignant neoplasia in hominins is derived from the SK7923 metatarsal fragment, dated to 1.8 to 1.6 Ma, from the site of Swartkrans, South Africa; a bony cortical exostosis together with osseous infilling of the medullary cavity of the shaft of the bone has been attributed by Odes and colleagues to osteosarcoma 5 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease

Randolph-Quinney¹,

Williams²,

Steyn³

et al. 2016

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease

Randolph-Quinney¹,

Williams²,

Steyn³

et al. 2016

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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“…Nearly all palaeopathological examples of cancer only dates to the past 500 years of human history, and evidence for cancer before the modern era is indeed rare (Binder, Roberts, Spencer, Antoine, & Cartwright, ). Early confirmation of neoplastic disease is however indicated by a lesion on an archaic Homo mandible from Kanam, Kenya (Phelan et al., ), and a fibrous dysplasia on a Neanderthal rib dated to 120 ka from the site of Krapina, Croatia (Monge et al., ). The recent discovery of neoplastic tumours in members of Australopithecus and early Homo (Odes et al., ; Randolph‐Quinney et al., ) dated to 1.98 and c .…”

Section: Ancient Human Health and Oncogenesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chronological incidence of prehistoric oncogenic tumours and important milestones concerning cancer aetiology and treatment (Binder et al., ; Bona et al., ; Monge et al., ; Odes et al., ; Phelan et al., ; Randolph‐Quinney et al., ) (‘Rom.’ and ‘Med.’ referes to Roman and Medieval Periods, respectively).…”

Section: Ancient Human Health and Oncogenesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient oncogenesis, infection and human evolution

Rifkin

Potgieter

Ramond

et al. 2017

Evolutionary Applications

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The recent discovery that malignant neoplastic lesions date back nearly 2 million years ago not only highlights the antiquity of cancer in the human lineage, but also provides remarkable insight into ancestral hominin disease pathology. Using these Early Pleistocene examples as a point of departure, we emphasize the prominent role of viral and bacterial pathogens in oncogenesis and evaluate the impact of pathogens on human evolutionary processes in Africa. In the Shakespearean vernacular “what's past is prologue,” we highlight the significance of novel information derived from ancient pathogenic DNA. In particular, and given the temporal depth of human occupation in sub‐Saharan Africa, it is emphasized that the region is ideally positioned to play a strategic role in the discovery of ancient pathogenic drivers of not only human mortality, but also human evolution. Ancient African pathogen genome data can provide novel revelations concerning human‐pathogen coevolutionary processes, and such knowledge is essential for forecasting the ways in which emerging zoonotic and increasingly transmissible diseases might influence human demography and longevity in the future.

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“…Altered or affected bones in skeletal remains might provide information about certain diseases, such as cancers [ 1 , 2 ] and rheumatic diseases [ 3 ]. A lesion on an archaic Homo mandible from Kanam, Kenya (Middle to Late Pleistocene) [ 4 ] and a fibrous dysplasia on a Neanderthal rib (older than 120000 years) from the site of Krapina, Croatia [ 5 ] are early confirmation of neoplastic disease. Neoplastic tumors have however been detected in early Homo samples as old as 1.7 million years ago, and these provide further insight into the outset of human cancers [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient mitochondrial DNA pathogenic variants putatively associated with mitochondrial disease

et al. 2020

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Mitochondrial DNA variants associated with diseases are widely studied in contemporary populations, but their prevalence has not yet been investigated in ancient populations. The publicly available AmtDB database contains 1443 ancient mtDNA Eurasian genomes from different periods. The objective of this study was to use this data to establish the presence of pathogenic mtDNA variants putatively associated with mitochondrial diseases in ancient populations. The clinical significance, pathogenicity prediction and contemporary frequency of mtDNA variants were determined using online platforms. The analyzed ancient mtDNAs contain six variants designated as being "confirmed pathogenic" in modern patients. The oldest of these, m.7510T>C in the MT-TS1 gene, was found in a sample from the Neolithic period, dated 5800-5400 BCE. All six have well established clinical association, and their pathogenic effect is corroborated by very low population frequencies in contemporary populations. Analysis of the geographic location of the ancient samples, contemporary epidemiological trends and probable haplogroup association indicate diverse spatiotemporal dynamics of these variants. The dynamics in the prevalence and distribution is conceivably result of de novo mutations or human migrations and subsequent evolutionary processes. In addition, ten variants designated as possibly or likely pathogenic were found, but the clinical effect of these is not yet well established and further research is warranted. All detected mutations putatively associated with mitochondrial disease in ancient mtDNA samples are in tRNA coding genes. Most of these mutations are in a mt-tRNA type (Model 2) that is characterized by loss of D-loop/T-loop interaction. Exposing pathogenic variants in ancient human populations expands our understanding of their origin and prevalence dynamics.

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Diagnosis of the Pathology of the Kanam Mandible

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease

Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease

Ancient oncogenesis, infection and human evolution

Ancient mitochondrial DNA pathogenic variants putatively associated with mitochondrial disease

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