Most of us know someone who has battled cancer. The incidence rates just keep rising year after year. Research on skeletons dating back thousands of years, however, indicates that cancer was not something our distant ancestors encountered very often.

As you might expect, however, this article from the BBC, claims that this increased rate of cancer is due primarily to our increased longevity over that of our ancestors. Most of our distant ancestors died from other common ailments long before cancer would have had a chance to take hold. Environment and lifestyle changes have also been attributed to the increased rate of cancer in modern society.

Related Resource: Tracing Your Family Health History