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Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College London have made an extraordinary discovery that could shape the future of cancer treatment. Published in the journal Biology, the decade-long study reveals that preserved red blood cell-like structures have been found in a dinosaur fossil. This opens new possibilities for using prehistoric creatures to study ancient tumors and understand cancer on a molecular level.

The idea for the study came about in 2016 when Professor Justin Stebbing, an oncologist at ARU, came across an article about a fossil discovery in Romania. The fossil, belonging to a Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus—a duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period—had a tumor in its jaw. Intrigued by the potential parallels with human cancers, Stebbing decided to investigate further.

A team was assembled in 2017 to delve into the intricacies of the tumor, including Dr. Biancastella Cereser of Imperial College London and Professor Pramodh Chandrasinghe from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. They reached out to the town in Romania, which agreed to loan them the fossil for research purposes. With a very fine drill, they extracted samples from the fossilized jawbone and employed Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to examine the structures within.

The SEM analysis revealed low-density structures resembling erythrocytes, or red blood cells, in the fossilized bone. This unexpected find shows that proteins from soft tissues, not just hard ones like bones and shells, can survive over millions of years.

Professor Stebbing explained that this finding allows researchers to see the "flesh" of cancer, providing a unique opportunity to study the disease from an ancient perspective. While the DNA in these fossils is too degraded for cloning purposes, like in the fictional Jurassic Park, the preserved proteins offer valuable insights into the molecular building blocks of cancer. Understanding these ancient structures could lead to better treatments for the disease in the future.

The research team believes their findings are a significant piece of the bigger puzzle in cancer research. Studying these ancient tumors helps scientists understand the role of the environment in cancer development, offering a long-term view that stretches tens of millions of years into the past. This ancient perspective could lead to more effective ways to combat cancer, contributing to the ongoing efforts to unravel the complexities of this disease.