An examination of a 7,000-year-old skeleton of a woman has revealed that she died from leukemia.
Together with her colleagues, the researcher found indications of leukemia on the skeleton of a woman, who was between 30 and 40 years of age at the time of death. “We examined several bones of the skeleton with our high-resolution computed tomography system, and we found an unusual loosening of the interior bone tissue – the cancellous bone – in the upper right humerus and the sternum,” adds Scherf.
In adults, the ends of the humeri and the sternum, as well as the vertebrae, ribs, skull, pelvis and the ends of the femurs contain hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells. In these locations, leukemia – colloquially known as blood cancer – can occur.
Story: Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum | Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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