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    Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy

    CAIRO (AP) — A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.

    The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.

    AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his forties.

    She said this was the second oldest known case of prostate cancer.

    "Living conditions in ancient times were very different; there were no pollutants or modified foods, which leads us to believe that the disease is not necessarily only linked to industrial factors," she said.

    A statement from AUC says the oldest known case came from a 2,700 year-old skeleton of a king in Russia.

     
    • Dusty  •  3 mths ago
      I believe it was cancer of the sarcophagus.
      • Lee 3 mths ago
        I am just really glad the mummy's mummy isn't around right now to hear your funny jokes.
      • knot 3 mths ago
        funny! lol
      • Dr QA (pronounced 'Qu ... 3 mths ago
        Hahahahahahahahaha.... (comment of the week)
    • Cheep-O  •  3 mths ago
      I hope the mummy has insurance, because these tests cost a fortune!
      • Silver Firefly 3 mths ago
        You are funny :-)
      • Boston Blackie 3 mths ago
        Some how the American middle class taxpayer will eventually be picking up the bill - again
      • P L 3 mths ago
        LOL
    • jg  •  3 mths ago
      Not excactly. Even back then people came in contact with enviromental poisons, sometimes even deliberatly. For instance for a while it was fashionable to use powder with leaddust to make the skin look whiter, also belladonna was widely used as eyedrops for a time, on top of that they did have some very strange (and toxic in some cases) medical treatments tru the ages. Smoking tobacco is a habit brought back by the first explorers of the americas, and there are plenty more exsamples to be found.
      • TS 3 mths ago
        It was George Bush's fault
      • Pamela 3 mths ago
        yes, but did those people from earlier times know ,really know that they were putting lead dust powder on or using belladonna on their eyes as eye drops?
      • jg 3 mths ago
        @pamela, i'm sure they were aware they were using it, they liked the effects it had or they were told by their doctors that it was good for them. I do not believe they were (fully) aware of the toxicity of the substances used. Even now we still discover new toxins/carcinogenics.
    • ken  •  Sterling, Virginia  •  3 mths ago
      He died waiting on his HMO
    • The Concerned One  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      Many ancient European kings and queens died of cancer, in a pre-industrial world.
      Why is this news?
      • Karen S 3 mths ago
        probably the age
      • Blue_Moon 3 mths ago
        It's a cancerous Egyptian mummy which means that it's still preserved and can be used to find the cure for prostate cancer under controlled conditions. Why don't you read the article.
      • Markavelli 3 mths ago
        @Blue,

        Wha??? it doesnt say this in the article. It implies that in knowing prostate cancer is genetic, this will change the way will go about researching its attributes

        "it's still preserved and can be used to find the cure for prostate cancer under controlled conditions."

        btw, prostate drugs have been hitting the market in the last couple years, one is the worlds first cancer vaccine "provenge".
    • opinionator  •  3 mths ago
      What a crock! No pollutants in the ancient world? Mining? Smelting gold, copper, iron. Casting bronze. The iceman they found a few years back was heavy with arsenic and he was approximately 5,000 years old.
      • Charles 3 mths ago
        What he probably meant to say was no pollutants that have come from modern chemistry since the Industrial Revolution, such as all the thousands of petrochemicals, plastics-related chemicals, things derived by modern chemistry from coal, etc.
      • JAMES 3 mths ago
        The well to do folks used cups made of lead.. the po folks make cups out of leather lined with beeswax. So what ever was drank from the cups of the rich was more hazardous to health the what the po folks drank. A bit of wine was added to water for purification.
    • Dorado  •  3 mths ago
      This mummy got a bad Wrap!!
    • Gloriam  •  3 mths ago
      That is silly. We all know that cancer has genetic components. However, without comparing the INCIDENCE of cancer in the general population AT THAT TIME with the incidence NOW, you cannot say that the environment does not play a role. One single anecdotal case a theory does not make.
    • kozz  •  3 mths ago
      how does he know there were no pollutants? The Romans for sure were polluted, they used lead pipes for their plumbing.
    • Patty  •  Yuma, Arizona  •  3 mths ago
      There has always been pollutants. How about lead in their eating utensils? Or smoke from all the cooking fires? I could go on...
    • killer  •  3 mths ago
      Other than the cancer, was he still in good health?
    • Buster Deekatt  •  Chesaning, Michigan  •  3 mths ago
      A few moments spent doing some research shows that they were playing with plenty of chemicals 2,200 years ago
    • Bob  •  3 mths ago
      "...indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment." Not true. It ONLY proves that the cancer is *was not* caused by what we call modern industrial pollutants. It does not mean that it "cannot be* caused by industrial pollutants today. It also does not prove that genetics caused it in him. It could have been some wild plant he had been smoking for 30 years, etc.
    • Made in the USA  •  3 mths ago
      without additional data, how can this conclusion be drawn? if this individual contracted a carcinogenic viral strain specific for prostrate cancer his genetic code wouldn't matter.
    • Michael  •  Houston, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      Should have followed the Pyramid Food Chart!
    • Lightfoot  •  Fayetteville, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      He puffed a pack of camels a day,the real camels.
    • NICK  •  3 mths ago
      HE ALSO HAD A PACK OF CAMELS
    • Pat Walsh  •  3 mths ago
      If it was not for the cancer would he be alive today.
    • JadedEyes  •  Spokane, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      )f course there were pollutants and these people used crocodile dung as a contraceptive. To make such a statement is not good science
    • OuterLimits  •  3 mths ago
      I think there were plenty of pollutants thousands of years ago, from dirty water to carcinogens from fireplace materials to inhaling dust and other debris while farming or making bricks or whatever. It's kind of silly to say there were no pollutants.
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