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| Science Forum Index » Medicine - Cancer Forum » Mother can pass on cancer in womb... |
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| E. Nigma... |
 Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:13 pm |
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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.
“ Such mother-to-offspring transfer of cancer is exceedingly rare and
the chances of any pregnant woman with cancer passing it on to her
child are remote ”
Professor Mel Greaves Institute of Cancer Research
Whether it is possible for a mother to "infect" her unborn child with
cancer has puzzled scientists for 100 years.
In theory any cancer cells that manage to cross the placenta into the
baby's bloodstream should be targeted for destruction by the child's
immune system.
But there are records of 17 cases of a mother and baby appearing to
share the same cancer - usually leukaemia or melanoma.
The latest study focused on a Japanese woman and her baby, who both
developed leukaemia.
The researchers used an advanced genetic fingerprinting technique to
prove that the leukaemia cells found in the baby had originated from
the mother.
They showed that both patients' leukaemic cells carried an identical
mutated cancer gene.
However, they also showed that the child had not inherited this gene
from its mother - meaning it could not have developed this type of
leukaemia in isolation.
No signature
Next, the researchers examined how the cancer cells could have
neutralised the baby's immune system.
They found that the cancer cells lacked some DNA which played a
crucial role in giving them their own specific molecular identity.
Without this telltale molecular sign, the child's immune system was
unable to recognise the cells as foreign, and thus was not mobilised
to attack them.
Lead researcher Professor Mel Greaves, of the Institute of Cancer
Research, said: "It appears that in this and, we presume, other cases
of mother-to-offspring cancer, the maternal cancer cells did cross
the placenta into the developing foetus and succeeded in implanting
because they were invisible to the immune system.
"We are pleased to have resolved this longstanding puzzle. But we
stress that such mother-to-offspring transfer of cancer is
exceedingly rare and the chances of any pregnant woman with cancer
passing it on to her child are remote."
Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician at the charity Cancer
Research UK, stressed that it was extremely unusual for cancer to
pass from a mother to her baby.
He said: "This is really important research as it adds to the
evidence that cancers need to evade the immune system before they can
grow, giving hope that by alerting a patient's immune system to a
cancer we can develop new types of treatment.
"Women needing cancer treatment around the time of having a baby who
are worried about this research should speak to the specialists
looking after them for advice."
Dr David Grant, scientific director at Leukaemia Research, which
part-funded the study, said it should help work to harness the power
of the immune system to first cure and then protect patients from
leukaemia.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8298947.stm
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