Human soft tissue tumors in paleopathology 



Enrique Gerszten and Marvin J. Allison 



Since the beginning of this century, the main cause of death 

 in the United States has changed from tuberculosis to dis- 

 eases of the heart. Although cancer is not the main cause of 

 death, the percentage of cancer- related deaths has steadily 

 increased, today reaching more than 22. 1% of the total num- 

 ber of deaths in the United States (American Cancer Society 

 1988). It is of interest that in the last half-century the primary 

 sites of malignant tumors have also changed. In some cases 

 we know the factor or factors involved in these changes, 

 while in others we do not. 



In the United States, the age-adjusted cancer death rates 

 for selected sites in males show that carcinoma of the stom- 

 ach has fallen from about 38 deaths per 100,000 in 1930 to 

 below lOin 1985. Carcinomaof the lung, on the other hand, 

 rose markedly during the same period from around 5 deaths 

 per 100,000 to more than 70. During this same time period, 

 carcinoma of the esophagus has remained rather constant at 

 5/100,000, while prostatic carcinoma has risen from 15 to 

 25 . The rates for primary carcinomas in other organs have not 

 changed significantly over the same time period. 



This same table of statistics reveals that, among females, 

 invasive cancer of the uterus has fallen from 3 1 / 100,000 to 

 fewer than 10 in 1985, while carcinoma of the lung has risen 

 from around 3 in 1930 to almost 30, surpassing carcinoma of 

 the breast in 1986 as the leading cause of cancer deaths in 

 females. In females, carcinoma of the stomach has di- 

 minished considerably as it has in males, while carcinoma of 

 the breast has persisted at a frequency of about 27/ 100,000. 



These figures show that in a short period of time different 

 types of tumors have changed in their frequency. In some 

 types, such as carcinoma of the uterus, cervix, colon, and 

 stomach, these changes can be attributed to preventive mea- 

 sures, changes in diet or association with certain substances. 

 Other tumors, such as carcinoma of the breast, ovary, or 

 pancreas have maintained the same frequency patterns, unex- 

 plainable by present cancer research. 



A complete review of the literature of tumors in antiquity 

 shows that in different parts of the world only very few tyf)es 

 of tumors have been recorded. It is understandable that most 

 of the findings are described in bones, mainly in the skull. 



because these parts of a buried human body are more resistant 

 to deterioration over time. The literature on this subject has 

 dealt mostly with primary or metastatic tumors of bone. To- 

 day it is known that certain soft tissue tumors such as breast 

 and prostate have a high frequency of metastases compared 

 to bones. Only a few tumors of soft tissue have been docu- 

 mented in antiquity. The study of this subject can lead to a 

 better understanding of the history of cancer. 



Materials and methods 



Table 1 is arranged by geographic areas and contains the total 

 list of literature references to primary tumors of soft tissues 

 reported from antiquity. The last two soft tissue tumors listed 

 in the table were found in our studies of pre-Columbian South 

 American mummies. 



The first tumor, a benign lipoma, was an incidental finding 

 in a male adolescent age 14, of the San Miguel Culture of 

 Northern Chile from a.d. 1 100 to 1200. This mummy was in 

 poor condition as only its heart and lungs were found at 

 autopsy; the rest of the internal organs had been destroyed. 



Table 1. Literature sources of reported soft tissue tumors 

 from antiquity 



Zagreb Pateopattiology Symp. 1988 



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