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Dinosaurs could help with future cancer treatments scientists say

An illustration of different dinosaur species.Getty Images

Dinosaurs could be important in helping scientists find new cancer discoveries in the future, experts say.

Researchers were able to find important structures in an ancient dino fossil, which hadn't been seen before.

The new study also suggests that the prehistoric creatures could also play a role in future treatments for humans.

That's because dinosaurs could help specialists better understand what the disease looked like tens of millions of years ago.

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What did scientists discover?

Illustration of dinosaurs in a valley. Getty Images

The eight year study involved researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Imperial College, London.

They took a closer look at fossils of a Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a duck-billed, plant eating "marsh lizard".

In 2016, scientists discovered this dinosaur had a benign tumour in its jaw called an ameloblastoma, which humans can also get.

The team put the fossil under a microscope and were surprised by what they found.

Dr Biancastella Cereser, from Imperial explained: "What we saw inside - there were some structures, some forms, that looked like blood cells."

The team said that they also found that soft tissue and cells are more commonly preserved in ancient remains than previously thought.

This could help scientists better understand the diseases that affected prehistoric creatures, including cancer, which could potentially influence how the disease is treated in humans in the future.

Professor Justin Stebbing from ARU, who was also involved with the study, added: "If we can understand cancer better, we can come up with better treatments."