How Are Prenatal Blood Tests Detecting Cancer?

如何通过产前血液检测发现癌症?

Science Quickly

科学

2025-04-11

20 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Noninvasive prenatal blood testing, or NIPT, is a routine screening that is offered during pregnancy and looks for placental DNA to diagnose chromosomal disorders in a fetus. But in some cases, these tests can also find cancer in the pregnant person. How do the tests work, and why are they uncovering cancer? Genetic counselor and writer Laura Herscher speaks with host Rachel Feltman about IDENTIFY (Incidental Detection of Maternal Neoplasia through Non-invasive Cell-Free DNA Analysis), a broader study that seeks to understand why usual results from NIPT can correlate with a cancer diagnosis in a pregnant patient. Plus, we discuss why treating pregnant patients for cancer can be complicated for obstetricians and oncologists. Recommended reading: A Prenatal Test of the Fetus Turns Up Cancers in Pregnant Mothers https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-prenatal-test-of-the-fetus-turns-up-cancers-in-pregnant-mothers/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • Hi, I'm Clara Moskowitz, Senior Editor for Space and Physics at Scientific American.

  • Like many kids, I once dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

  • While I never made it to space, my work at Scientific American has given me the next best thing,

  • exploring the cosmos through stories and sharing its wonders with science lovers like you.

  • When I research a story, I immerse myself in the reporting to bring you an exciting and accurate account.

  • Over the years, I've covered breathtaking rocket launches,

  • visited one of the world's highest altitude telescopes in Chile, and even trained for suborbital spaceflight.

  • Space is vast, beautiful, and full of the unexpected.

  • Taking a moment to look beyond our daily routines and reflect on its mysteries can be a powerful escape.

  • Join me on this journey of discovery.

  • Subscribe to Scientific American today at siam.com slash get siam.

  • For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

  • For more than a decade, non-invasive prenatal blood testing,

  • or NIPT, has been a fairly routine aspect of pregnancy care.

  • This testing searches a pregnant person's blood for fragments of DNA that have been shed by the placenta.

  • NIPT is designed to spot chromosomal disorders in the fetus,

  • but in rare cases, the blood test can detect something else.

  • Cancer in the parent.

  • My guest today is Laura Hersher,

  • a genetic counselor and director of student research at the Sarah Lawrence College, Joan H.