Mummies have long helped humans uncover medical information, including the role that diet plays in heart disease, and now a now study by Tel Aviv University researchers continues that trend, FOX News reports. In the study, 18th century Hungarian mummies reveal that genetic predispositions to colorectal cancer were present before the advent of modernization, suggesting that the role of processed food, physical inactivity and other factors linked to our current lifestyles may not be as important in the stimulation of cancer as we thought.

In order to examine this issue, the team set out to examine mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, which have been shown to be strongly connected to the development of colorectal adenomas and carcinomas, according to the Daily Mail.

"Colorectal cancer is among the most common health hazards of modern times," said Rina Rosin-Arbesfeld, co-author of the study. "And it has a proven genetic background. We wanted to discover whether people in the past carried the APC mutation - how common it was, and whether it was the same mutation known to us today. In other words: Is the increase in the incidence of cancer the result of man's manipulation of nature alone?"

The team gathered 51 samples form 20 Hungarian mummies and used genetic sequencing techniques to pinpoint mutations in APC genes located in large intestine tissue samples from the mummies.

"Our data reveal that one of the mummies may have had a cancer mutation. This means that a genetic predisposition to cancer may have already existed in the pre-modern era," said Ella Sklan, another co-author of the study. "But we've found this mutation in only one individual so far. Additional studies with a larger sample size should be conducted in order to draw more meaningful conclusions."

Recently, two new agents approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed positive results and increased the overall survival rates of those with colorectal cancer, OncLive reports.

The findings were published in the Feb. 10 issue of PLOS One.