The prevalence of cancer in Britain before industrialization.

Until now, no one has been able to work out how common cancer was before the time people were exposed to tumor-inducing chemicals from tobacco and industrial factories. In this novel study, the authors have determined the percentage of people living in medieval Britain who had cancer metastases to bone at the time of their death and then compared that with modern data. It was found that cancer was approximately 25% as common in medieval times as it is today. This article suggests cancer was much more widespread in medieval times than was previously realized.