NIPT can detect blood cancers before symptoms appear

The non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), developed to detect Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities in unborn children, can also detect blood cancers. Not just in pregnant women but in everyone. This is because the test examines the DNA that is circulating in the blood - and that may include the genetic material of cancer cells. NIPT is a prenatal blood test designed to detect chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus. The test can easily be run on a pregnant woman's blood sample, as the mother's blood also contains tiny bits and pieces of the baby's DNA. In the past couple of years, eight pregnant women who underwent the NIPT were diagnosed with cancer by mere chance. Their cancers were discovered by the Centre for Human Genetics (CME) at University Hospitals Leuven.