Prostate metastatic bone cancer in an Egyptian Ptolemaic mummy, a proposed radiological diagnosis

On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC)

“…To date, around 50 individuals with primary and secondary malignancies have been described in the literature [29], [34], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42] even though, again, reports are often unconvincing and inadequate publication makes their reassessment impossible [43].…”

“…While most of the evidence so far comes from skeletal remains, evidence of soft tissue tumors from mummified remains, to date, very rare, to date [45]. Only recently, the first convincing evidence of prostate cancer was detected through computerised tomography of a Ptolemaic (285–230BC) mummy [42].…”

Epidemiology and Pathology

“…By contrast, the identification of benign tumors seems more frequent. recent identifications include a giant cell tumor in the tibia of a sub-adult from roman Corinth examined radiographically (Fox 2005), as well as a form of rectal cancer, and a metastatic case (most likely from prostate cancer) in mummies of Ptolemaic Egypt diagnosed histologically, with digital radiography and computerized tomography (David and Zimmerman 2010;Prates et al 2011). Most unusual has been the discovery of a calcified myoma (uterine fibroid) in a woman of the Late roman period in Egypt (Strouhal and Jungwirth 1977) and an ossified ovary teratoma in the pelvic region of a 30-40-year-old woman of the same period from Catalonia (armentano et al 2012).…”

The development of cytotoxic chemotherapeutics in the twentieth century

“…Ancak bu bulguların nadirliği, antikitede kanser insidansının görece düşük olduğunu düşündürmektedir; yüksek bir olasılıkla yaralanmalar ve enfeksiyonlar, bebek ölümleri ve diğer hastalıklar ortalama insan ömrü-nü kısalttığından, herhangi bir kanser gelişiminden önce ölüm gerçekleşmekteydi. [1][2][3][4] Bununla birlikte, yumuşak vücut dokularının doğada yok olması ve mumyalama esnasında birçok organın çıkarılması (örneğin, kafa içi, göğüs ve karın boşluğunun boşaltılması) nedeniyle kemiklere ait olanlar dışında-ki olguların günümüze ulaşamadığı da söylenebilir.…”