Mother can pass on cancer in womb

**debbystewart** · #1 10-15-2009, 12:12 AM

Scientists have proved that it is possible for a mother's cancer cells to be passed to her unborn child.

There are very rare cases where a mother and child appear to share the same cancer, but in theory the child's immune system should block the cancer.

However, an analysis by a British-led team of one such case shows the cells which caused leukaemia in the child could only have come from the mother.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read more at BBC NEWS | Health | Mother can pass on cancer in womb

**Toddler Mom** · #2 10-15-2009, 10:32 PM

Oh.. I read this too.. What I'm concerned about is whether there are any prenatal tests that can help diagnose this and if there aren't, someone should start developing some.. This is very serious and needs immediate attention.. Imagine a poor baby suffering from cancer!