How does a baby get cancer
from his/her mom?
“Since 1866 there have been some 17 documented cases
(including the present study) of a baby developing the same
cancer as its mother, suggesting that the mother’s cancer
cells had metastasized to the developing foetus.” – Nature.
com, October 13, 2009. [1]

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. [2]

Samples of the baby's blood and those of the mother
examined by Mel Greaves, of the Institute of Cancer Research
(ICR) in Surrey using "genetic fingerprinting" showed that they
both contained exactly the same rogue cancer cells. Individual
cancers develop genetic mutations randomly and no two
cancers are the same, unless they have the same source.  
And in this case, the mother and daughter had the same
mutations, thus, the cancer must have been passed across
the placenta. [2]

The researchers found that cancer cells from the mother and
the child had the same mutation in the oncogene BCR-ABL1
— but that this mutation hadn't been inherited, indicating that
the cell had passed to the fetus during the pregnancy. [1]

In general, when the cells did cross the placental barrier, the
child's immune system should have recognized them as
foreign invaders and destroyed them.  [4] The researchers
examined the genes of the cancer cells in the infant and found
a deletion mutation. The absence of these molecules on the
cancer cells meant that the infant’s immune system would not
have recognized that they were foreign. [3] This study
indicates the importance of the immune system to protect
patients from leukaemia.


Reference:
[1] Mom passes cancer to baby, blogs.nature.com – October 13, 2009 [2] Richard
Alleyne, Mother passes on cancer to unborn baby, Telegraph.co.uk, October 13, 2009.
[3] Pregnant women with cancer can pass disease to unborn baby, study shows, The
Times, October 13, 2009 [4] Sarah Boseley, Scientists prove cancer can be passed on
in the womb, Guardian.co.uk, October 13, 2009
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