Prenatal blood test sometimes hints at cancer in moms-to-be: study

Many moms-to-be opt for blood tests during pregnancy to check for fetal disorders such as Down syndrome, and in rare instances, these tests can reveal something unexpected -- hints of a hidden cancer in the woman, The Associated Press cited a study earlier this week, reported Xinhua.

In the study of 107 pregnant women whose test results were unusual, 52 were ultimately diagnosed with cancer. Most of them were treated and are now in remission, although seven with advanced cancers died.

"They looked like healthy, young women and they reported themselves as being healthy," said Diana Bianchi, the senior author of the government study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Of the discovered cancers, lymphoma blood cancers were the most common, followed by colon and breast cancers, according to the study.

The blood test is called cell-free DNA sequencing. It looks for fetal problems in DNA fragments shed from the placenta into the mother's bloodstream. It also can pick up DNA fragments shed by cancer cells.