The Tumor Story of a Neanderthal Rib from 120 Thousand Years Ago
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Day 5 (Cancer History in 365 Days Series)
A Neanderthal's Silent Cry 120,000 Years Ago: A Tumor-Bearing Rib from a Croatian Cave
Our cancer history series has explored dinosaurs and human ancestors. Today we travel closer to the present, into our cousins' world. Some 120,000 years ago, before modern humans reached Europe, a Neanderthal in a Croatian cave lived with a rare bone disorder still encountered in clinics today.
In 2013, PLoS ONE published this discovery, among the oldest and most detailed cases showing that tumors affected our extinct relatives as well as modern humans, Homo sapiens.
What a Broken Rib Reveals
Excavations at Krapina, Croatia, in 1899-1905 recovered over 900 Neanderthal bones, mostly fragmented. A small, 3 cm left rib fragment labeled Krapina 120.71 attracted attention.
The usual spongy bone, or trabeculae, was missing. The interior appeared hollowed out, while the outer cortex was abnormally expanded. Janet Monge, David Frayer and colleagues used modern medical imaging to investigate.
Figure 1. Caudal view of Krapina 120.71 (a). The large lesion lies above the tubercular facet and extends laterally. Trabeculae are destroyed and the cortex expanded. Thin cortical bone roofing the cavity broke after death. (b) Krapina 120.6 shows normal trabecular arrangement in the medullary cavity. Surface irregularities occurred after death.
X-Ray and Micro-CT Findings
- 1. A Hollow Structure: X-rays showed an osteolytic, bone-destroying lesion. The tumor had occupied and destroyed the normal marrow space.
- 2. Ground-Glass Appearance: The radiological ground-glass pattern is typical of fibrous dysplasia. The bone had lost normal rigidity and become softer, fibrous tissue.
- 3. A Tumor Rather Than a Fracture: The lesion excluded healing trauma or infection (osteomyelitis). It was clearly a neoplasm, or tumor.
Did This Neanderthal Suffer?
Fibrous dysplasia is a developmental bone disorder still seen today. Weak, fibrous tissue replaces normal bone, causing weakness, expansion and deformity.
What Symptoms Might Occur?
Modern patients may have no symptoms or experience bone pain, pathological fractures and deformities. Rib lesions are usually painless but may cause a stabbing sensation during breathing.
How Did It Affect Life?
This individual survived to adulthood despite demanding cave life at Krapina. The tumor therefore did not prevent vital functioning but probably caused chronic discomfort.
- Monge J, Kricun M, Radovčić J, Radovčić D, Mann A, Frayer DW. Fibrous Dysplasia in a 120,000+ Year Old Neandertal from Krapina, Croatia. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(6):e64539. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064539
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