Neeta L. Vora, MD, Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Additionally, she has been featured in the Associate Press (AP News) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Cell-free DNA Screening and Maternal Cancer” discusses how the use of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) screening in pregnant women, specifically focusing on how cfDNA testing, which is typically used to screen for fetal aneuploidies (like Down syndrome or trisomy 18), can sometimes detect unexpected findings of maternal cancer.
Here is an excerpt from the article “Unusual genetic results in prenatal tests can also flag cancers—in the mom“ published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, featuring Dr. Neeta Vora.
“In 2013, Vora and her colleagues described a woman with an advanced neuroendocrine cancer who’d had an abnormal NIPT result even without any detectable fetal health problems. During the patient’s pregnancy “we were kind of scratching our heads” about what could be going on, Vora says. After the woman delivered a healthy baby boy, her symptoms led to a cancer diagnosis, and doctors theorized that the NIPT had been the canary in the coal mine: Her tumors were shedding abnormal DNA into the bloodstream, which skewed the prenatal test results.”
Dr. Neeta Vora is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Director of Reproductive Genetics Services at UNC.
To read Dr. Neeta L. Vora’s full Editorial, Dr. Neeta L. Vora: Cell-free DNA screening and maternal cancer.