Our ancestors had cancer for almost 2 million years

You may have seen some texts and warnings that modern habits, the consumption of some manufactured products and the overuse of pesticides are to blame for cancer. However, the discoveries being made by researchers are undermining this premise.

A team of anthropologists at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, announced the oldest tumor ever found.

The discovery was made in the country through advanced x-ray techniques, which enabled the identification of the disease of the fossil foot found in Swartkrans Cave.

Prior to this, the oldest cancer belonged to an African hominid of the species H omo erectus, which had a jaw tumor and lived for at least 1.5 million years. However, there were still doubts in this case, as some experts believed it was just a bone fracture.

Paleontologist Janet Monge of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, explains that even the most advanced techniques still do not make it possible to draw any conclusions as to what caused the abnormal growth of the bone tissue of the fossils.

Apparently we will have to wait for more discoveries.