Earliest evidence of human cancer found in 1.7 million-year-old bone - Watch!

New Delhi: This discovery really shuts down the medical theories that shows cancer as a modern man-made disease. Recently, a group of paleontologists discovered a cancer tumor in 1.7 million-year-old human foot bone.

According to the researchers from the University of Witwatersrand's Evolutionary Studies Institute and the South African Center for Excellence in Paleosciences, this is most ancient evidence for deadly cancer and bony tumors. The discovery was made at the site of Swartkrans that lies in fossil-rich area of South Africa. Researchers made use of 3D imaging to diagnose the fossilized foot bone that carries an aggressive cancer tumour called osteosarcoma belonging to a human relative who died in Swartkrans Cave between 1.6 and 1.8 million years ago.

The findings has just been published in South African journal of Science that highlights how industrialization and change in lifestyles triggered the incidence of cancer that are embedded deep within the evolution period of humans.

Watch the video below to know more about the newest discovery of world's oldest cancerous bone: 

(Video credit: GeoBeats News)