Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease

Patrick S. Randolph-Quinney; Scott A. Williams; Maryna Steyn; Marc R. Meyer; Jacqueline S. Smilg; Steven E. Churchill; Edward J. Odes; Tanya Augustine; Paul Tafforeau; Lee R. Berger

doi:10.17159/sajs.2016/20150470

Patrick S. Randolph-Quinney 1. School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa *Current address: School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0694-5868
Scott A. Williams 1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
Maryna Steyn School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Marc R. Meyer Department of Anthropology, School of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA
Jacqueline S. Smilg 1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. School of Radiation Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 3. Department of Radiology, Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa
Steven E. Churchill 1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Edward J. Odes 1. School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tanya Augustine School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Paul Tafforeau European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
Lee R. Berger 1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2. DST/NRF South African Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0367-7629

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20150470

Keywords: Malapa, palaeopathology, neoplasia, taphonomy, osteoma, malignant

Abstract

We describe the earliest evidence for neoplastic disease in the hominin lineage. This is reported from the type specimen of the extinct hominin Australopithecus sediba from Malapa, South Africa, dated to 1.98 million years ago. The affected individual was male and developmentally equivalent to a human child of 12 to 13 years of age. A penetrating lytic lesion affected the sixth thoracic vertebra. The lesion was macroscopically evaluated and internally imaged through phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography. A comprehensive differential diagnosis was undertaken based on gross- and micro-morphology of the lesion, leading to a probable diagnosis of osteoid osteoma. These neoplasms are solitary, benign, osteoid and bone-forming tumours, formed from well-vascularised connective tissue within which there is active production of osteoid and woven bone. Tumours of any kind are rare in archaeological populations, and are all but unknown in the hominin record, highlighting the importance of this discovery. The presence of this disease at Malapa predates the earliest evidence of malignant neoplasia in the hominin fossil record by perhaps 200 000 years.