Metastatic carcinoma in a leper skeleton from a Medieval cemetery in Chichester England

Abstract

Abstract Both leprosy and metastatic cancer are well documented in the literature on human skeletal palaeopathology. The manifestation of both pathological conditions in a single archaeological skeleton has not been reported. A case from a Medieval site in Chichester, England exhibits bone lesions and patterns of skeletal involvement indicative of both these diseases. Evidence of leprosy is largely restricted to the lower tibiae, fibulae and the bones of the feet. Fine destructive foci and reactive fibre bone associated with metastatic cancer are distributed in many of the remaining areas of the skeleton. There is minimal overlap in the areas of the skeleton involved in the two pathological processes.