Prenatal cfDNA-Sequencing, Cancer-Screening Protocol May Help Detect Cancer In Pregnant Or Postpartum Women, Study Suggests

The AP (12/4, Johnson) reports that “many moms-to-be opt for blood tests during pregnancy to check for fetal disorders such as Down syndrome,” but “in rare instances, these tests can reveal something unexpected – hints of a hidden cancer in the woman.” In a study involving “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.” Of the detected “cancers, lymphoma blood cancers were the most common, followed by colon and breast cancers.” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. MedPage Today (12/4, Bassett) reports, “Use of a standardized cell-free (cf)DNA-sequencing and cancer-screening protocol detected cancer in nearly half of pregnant or postpartum women who initially received unusual or nonreportable clinical cfDNA-sequencing results, the IDENTIFY study showed.” Researchers found that “in 107 patients, 48.6% of those who received unusual or nonreportable clinical cfDNA-sequencing results had an occult cancer.”