Case of metastatic carcinoma from end of the 8th-early 9th century Slovakia

Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001 Nov;116(3):216-29. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1117.

Abstract

The first case of metastatic carcinoma ever detected in Slovakia comes from a Slavonic cemetery at Borovce, in the district of Piest'any, which is dated from the end of the 8th to the middle of the 12th century AD. The disease afflicted a 50-60-year-old male, buried in a grave from the older phase of inhumation (8th-early 9th century AD). A number of osteolytic metastases were found in all bones of the skull and postcranial skeleton except for the forearms, hands, lower legs, and feet. They were studied macroscopically by standard X-rays, and by scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Analogous finds from Central European countries were also obtained. They are discussed in relation to their chronology, which shows a tendency of increasing occurrence culminating in the Middle Ages. Some demographic and paleopathological characteristics of the burials in the Borovce cemetery are also provided.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Anthropology, Physical
  • Bone Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Carcinoma / secondary*
  • Demography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis*
  • Skeleton
  • Slovakia