New study says Napoleon died from cancer

DALLAS, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led team of experts using modern pathological technology has determined Napoleon Bonaparte died from advanced gastric cancer.

The investigation into the French emperor's death nearly 200 years ago suggests the cancer stemmed from an ulcer-causing stomach bacterial infection, said Dr. Robert Genta, professor of pathology and internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern medical center and senior author of the study.

The new analysis by a team of U.S., Swiss and Canadian researchers refutes rumors of arsenic poisoning that have existed since 1961.

Napoleon, born Aug. 15, 1769, ruled France during the late 1700s and early 1800s. He conquered much of Europe, but was ultimately defeated at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. The British then exiled him to St. Helena, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean where he died May 5, 1821.

An autopsy at the time cited stomach cancer as the cause of death and a 1938 study suggested Napoleon's father died of stomach cancer.

The new report is available online and in the January edition of the journal Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology.