I wonder how long ‘Cancer’ has been with us humans. I’m sure we’ve had it for our entire existence, but it likely went unidentified. The perceived increase of Cancer during recent decades is likely due to better detection and simply a case of people living long enough to get it, not dying of something else first. I believe I read somewhere that statistically, if a male lives long enough, Colon Cancer WILL BE what eventually kills him. Though we all know what statistics can mean.
From about three weeks ago:
Researchers have discovered the earliest confirmed case of cancer in a young man who lived in ancient Egypt.
The discovery of a diseased skeleton dating back to around 1,200 BC was made at the Amara West site in northern Sudan.
The new finding suggests that the disease has its roots in the distant past.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26627941