British researchers have found that a 28-year-old mother, who died of leukaemia, passed on her malignant cells to her daughter in the womb. The extremely rare event proves once and for all that rogue cancer cells can sometimes bypass nature's defences and pass from adult to child. There have been 17 previous cases where a mother and infant appeared to share the same cancer, usually a leukaemia or melanoma. However, this is the first time it has been linked "unquestionably", said the team. (source: telegraph.co.uk)
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