What: A deep dive into how a prenatal test designed to detect fetal abnormalities unexpectedly flags cancer in pregnant women. By analyzing cell-free fetal DNA, the test identifies maternal malignancies, offering early detection and potentially life-saving interventions. Now cancer screening can be integrated into routine prenatal care.

Key Line: “On a Friday afternoon in late 2022, when Erica Lucca got a call to say that her NIPT results might indicate a problem, she assumed it was about the baby…When the geneticist she saw on Monday suggested that it was most likely a maternal issue, she was inclined to be dismissive. …Lucca, who lives in Washington, D.C., decided to take the advice she was given and enroll in the IDENTIFY study, conveniently located in nearby Bethesda, Md., a decision she now credits with saving her life. An eight-centimeter mass in her chest, discovered via a full-body magnetic resonance imaging scan, turned out to be a particularly aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Less than two weeks later, she started chemotherapy.”

Source: Scientific American