[Paleopathology of cancer: continuity or interruption?].

Paleopathology is useful for our knowledge of the natural history of cancer. However, the interpretation of neoplasms (retrospective diagnosis and past epidemiology) is one of the more interesting and difficult aspects of paleopathology. The occurrence and frequency of neoplastic lesions in ancient populations which seem lower in human antiquity than they are now, are still a subject of debate for both paleopathologist and medical historians. However, all forms of benign and malignant tumors of bones have been documented in ancient human specimens from the Neolithic period.