120,000-year-old bone tumour in Neanderthal specimen found

Scientists have recorded the first case of a bone tumour of the ribs in a Neanderthal specimen which suggests that at least one Neanderthal suffered a cancer that is common in modern-day humans.
The cancerous rib, which dates back to more than 120,000 years, was recovered from Krapina in present-day Croatia. It is an incomplete specimen, and thus the researchers were unable to comment on the overall health effects the tumour may have had on this individual.
This discovery of a fibrous dysplasia predates previous evidence of this tumour by well over 100,000 years. Prior to this research, the earliest known bone cancers occurred in samples approximately 1,000-4,000 years old.

Fibrous dysplasia in modern-day humans occurs more frequently than other bone tumours, but researchers said that evidence for cancer is extremely rare in the human fossil record.
"This case shows that Neanderthals, living in an unpolluted environment, were susceptible to the same kind of cancer as living humans," said researcher David Frayer from the University of Kansas.
Neanderthals had average life spans that were likely to be half those of modern humans in developed countries, and were exposed to different environmental factors.
"Given these factors, cases of neoplastic disease are rare in prehistoric human populations. Against this background, the identification of a more than 120,000-year-old Neanderthal rib with a bone tumour is surprising, and provides insights into the nature and history of the association of humans to neoplastic disease," the study concluded.

The research was published in the journal PLOS ONE.